Poacher held with 18 bird carcasses

BERHAMPUR: Chilika wildlife division personnel on Thursday arrested a poacher and seized carcasses of 18 birds from him near Bhusandapur in Khurda district.

The accused was identified as Bhagirathi Swain (50) of Bidharpursahi near Bhusandpur under Tangi forest range. The carcasses are of four bird species-Grey Headed Swamphen (14), Lesser Whistling Duck (two) and one each of Pheasant Tailed Jacana and Bronze Winged Jacana, said Chilika DFO Amlan Nayak.

He said Swain was carrying the carcasses to the market for selling them and had kept some for his own consumption. He is suspected to have hunted the birds by poisoning them in Chilika lake. The carcasses were buried after autopsy, said Nayak. He said the tissue samples of the carcasses would be sent to the Centre for Wildlife Health in Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) and to state forensic laboratory, Bhubaneswar for toxicological analysis.

Though not a single case of poaching was registered in Chilika in the last migration season when lakhs of birds arrived at the lake, poaching of waterfowls had been reported recently. The latest poaching case at the lake was the second in the last one week and third in a month.