Odisha: Migratory birds flock early to Chilka, zero tolerance towards poaching says DFO

Banpur (Odisha) [India] October 2 (ANI) Migratory birds have arrived in Chilka Lake one month earlier than their scheduled time, and the Chilika Wildlife Division is taking several measures for their protection.
Speaking to ANI, Amlan Nayak, Divisional Forest Officer, Chilika Wildlife. said, "Chilika Lake under Khordha district is the biggest brackish water lake of Asia. Migratory birds in lakhs of numbers arrive in Chilika lake usually at the end of October month but this year it has been seen that migratory birds have already arrived in Chilika lake early before a month."
The DFO said that authorties have already set up camps an staff will man the camps.
"This month the migratory bird season has commenced from October and accordingly we have set up our camps. These camps will be active from October 2024 to the month of March 2025. We will be manning these camps from the people of the local community , may be three to four persons in each camp will be manning it depending on the sensitivity of the camps with relation to bird conservation, poaching and other aspects. Apart from local community, departmental staff including the foresters, forest guards will be manning the camps and supervising the activities of the camp watchers. They will submit a report on daily basis by 1130 in the morning and will give their reports to the range officer everyday and will be forwarded to the Division officer and then transmitted to the higher quarters everyday. Four camps have been set up in Balaguan range, eleven in the tangi range and two each in Satpura and Rambha range," he said.
The DFO emphasised that like last year this year too there was a zero tolerance against poaching of the birds
"Everything is in place as of now and zero tolerance towards poaching of migratory birds will be a mandate this year as was last year." "The patrolling has been intensified and will be intensified even more.Number of boats have been hired for the purpose and departmental boats too will be deployed for patrolling activities this year. Census exercise will also be conducted by December or January as the date communicated by the chief wildlife warden.All necessary precautions have been taken for Birdflu also and in case any incident of the disease is seen , we will promptly inform the department concerned. Migratory birds have started arriving , they have been seen in the sky, very few in number though.New bird arrivals have been noticed and we assume that they will come in large numbers by the end of October.The numbers of birds will be huge this year as we have tried to create a conducive environment for them," the DFO said.
In 2024, the annual water bird status survey recorded a total of 11,37,759 birds, including 10,98,813 migratory birds. This was a slight increase from the previous year, when 11,31,929 birds were recorded.
Migratory birds come from the Caspian region, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Baikal lake, and the remote areas of Russia and neighbouring countries.
Migratory birds congregate in the wetlands of the Nalabana Bird Sanctuary and Mangalajodi, a village on the banks of the Chilka lake. (ANI)