15 peacocks found dead in Cherial

They were suspected of consuming pesticides sprinkled in fields

Cherial (Warangal): In an alarming incident, about 15 peacocks were found dead in the agricultural fields at Karshakanagar in Cherial mandal in the district. The national birds were said to have died during late night hours of Tuesday and the incident came to light during the wee hours of Wednesday. A group of farmers attending agricultural works spotted the dead peacocks at their fields. The incident created panic for some time as the locals and forest officers suspected the role of hunters.

Later it was found that the peacocks died after they consumed pesticides sprinkled in the fields. According to Jangaon sub divisional forest officer Syed Hussain, peacocks which were picking grains leftover in the fields might have eaten the insecticides strewn in the fields. Stray dogs and other animals devoured the dead peacocks and dragged their bodies across the fields. Meanwhile, the villagers rushed to the fields to pick out feathers from the peacocks.

However, the forest staff prevented them and buried them in the nearby forest area after conducting the panchanama.However, DFO (North) Bhema Naik said that the death of the birds could have occurred due to the changes in the weather following the recent unseasonal rains. There was also disagreement over the actual number of birds died. The officials said that six birds died while the locals asserted that they had seen as many as 15 birds dead in the fields.