Poachers held, 30 dead pitails seized

Wildlife personnel today arrested two bird poachers and seized 30 dead pintails, one of the migratory birds flown to Chilka lake in Odisha.
The sizures were made from poachers at Alipada and Deipur area in Tangi wildlife range, they said. The poachers have been identified as Sukanta Kalasa (33) and Manas Kumar Ray (28) of Haripur, near Nirakarapur in Khurda district.
"The accused persons might have poisoned the birds to kill them in the lake area," said divisional forest officer, Chilka wildlife division, Bikash Ranjan Das.
Wildlife personnel caught the duo red-handed while they were carrying the birds after hunting in the Chilka Lake, known as the paradise for the different migratory birds.

It was the second bird poaching case reported from the blue lagoon during the current winter. The first such case was reported on November 3, when two persons of Bhikaripalli in Ganjam district were arrested by the wildlife officials at Subhadrapur and seized three dead birds from them.
The bird poachers in the nearby villages of Chilka are seen very active since the winged guests started flocking to the lake since the last week of October. Around 70,000 birds of different species have so far arrived in the lake.
More number of birds are now taking shelter in 15.59-sq.Km Nalabana-the birdsanctuary and Mangalajodi areas, sources said.

The wildlife division has set up 19 temporary camps and intensified patrolling to prevent poaching of the migratory birds, the DFO said.