Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Rescued from captivity, they flew to freedom

V.S. Palaniappan

Wild birds were being illegally offered for sale in large and small cages by pavement vendors on Brooke Bond Road

FREE TO FLY: One of the finches rescued from illegal captivity in the city and released on Wednesday. - PHOTO: S. SIVA SARAVANAN

Coimbatore: About 350 caged birds being illegally offered for sale in the City flew away to freedom on Wednesday, after Forest officials rescued them from their captors and released the creatures into the jungles at Anaikatti on the outskirts of the City.

Forest officials took action on Tuesday when the president of the Coimbatore District Forest Project and Environment Protection Society, N. I. Jalaluddin came across a vendor selling the small, colourful birds on Brooke Bond Road .

Buyers could purchase a pair of these birds in a small cage for Rs. 100 to Rs. 125, and in a big cage for Rs. 150 to Rs. 200. Mr. Jalaluddin alerted the District Forest Officer, I. Anwardeen, who in turn deputed a team of officers led by Range Officer, A. Soundarrajan and Forester L.C.S. Rajkanth.

On seeing the officials, the vendors took to their heels. The team members transported the birds - held captive in huge baskets and cages - to the District Forest Office nursery.

Forest Veterinarian N.S. Manoharan examined the creatures, found them in good health and fit to be released in a suitable habitat.

Senior Research Scientist P. Balasubramanian at the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and History (SACON), identified the birds as "spotted munia, black-headed munia or white-backed munia" all belonging to the family of finches.

Though not migratory or foreign birds, they were classified as scheduled birds in the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, forest officials said.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that the sellers had captured the birds in places close to Salem and Dharmapuri and along the Tamil Nadu - Andhra borde

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