As always, Sankranti, the festival of kites, has proved to be dangerous for birds this year as well with close to 50 birds being rescued with manja-related injuries.
Ever since the rescue operation was launched on January 12, the number of injured birds has only increased this year. Of the injured birds, 21succumbed to their injuries and some were maimed for life, volunteers at the People for Animals (PFA) shelter at Afzal Gunj said.
“The manja-related injuries are so bad that we had to amputate the wings of some birds as well as other parts of their bodies,” PFA chief executive Dattatreya Joshi told KhabarLive.
Sankranti is celebrated across the country by flying kites but the manja used ends up injuring people, birds and animals. Fine particles of glass are used to polish the thread, to make it sharp so that it can cut other threads, for kite-fighting.
While the rescued birds include owls, crows, coucals (cuckoo family), eagles, about 80% of the injured birds are pigeons. “Most of the birds have cut their wings and it won’t heal. They will have to be kept for life in our shelter,” said a senior veterinarian at the shelter.
PFA volunteers are still conducting rescue operation. They can be contacted at +919849993374 / +917337450643 if one comes across injured birds and animals. #KhabarLive
