The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : Villagers rescue two grey pelicans near Gopalpur

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Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008
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Villagers rescue two grey pelicans near Gopalpur

Staff Reporter

The birds are taken to the police station for safety

No physical injuries are found on them
A team of forest officials to search the area to know whether grey pelicans have nested there

Photo: Lingaraj Panda

In safe hands: One of the two rescued grey pelicans sits at the Forest Range office in Berhampur on Monday. —

BERHAMPUR: Two ailing grey pelicans were rescued by villagers of the Nuabaxipalli near Gopalpur in Ganjam district from the backwater of the sea near their village on Monday.

Seeing these rarely seen migratory birds in ailing state near their village, the villagers immediately informed the Gopalpur police station and the birds were carried to the police station for safekeeping. One of these birds was found in the morning. The other pelican was found at the same backwater near the village in the afternoon. The forest officials from the city rushed to Gopalpur to provide medical attention to the birds and to carry them to the Berhampur range office of the Forest Department.

The ranger of the Berhampur forest range, Dayanidhi Tripathy said both these birds did not seem to have any sign of physical injury. He said veterinary experts were making pathological tests to ascertain the reasons behind the sickness of these birds. Their blood samples were also collected for tests regarding possibility of bird flu infection.

Migratory birds

The grey pelicans are migratory birds from Himalayan region of India. They migrate to Chilika lake as well as Point Kalimer in Srikakulam district to nest during winter months, said Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), A.K.Jena. It is suspected that these two sick grey pelicans may be part of a flock on their return northward journey from their nesting site in Andhra Pradesh.

But the forest officials have not ruled out the possibilities of probable nesting by these migratory birds near the backwater near Nuabauxipalli village.

These birds prefer to nest on palm trees, which are found in large numbers near Nuabauxipalli village. A team of forest officials would search the area to ascertain whether any grey pelican has nested in the area.

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