Connect with us

Animal

Covid Scare Kills Over 250 Cattle Egrets in Assam

Published

on

Nearly 250 egrets and cormorant hatchlings died on Thursday after bamboo trees were felled in Assam’s Udalguri district over the fear of the spread of Covid-19 from the bird droppings.

The trees were felled on an order issued this month by the executive officer of the Tangla Town Committee to five residents.

“The droppings of egrets nesting on bamboo trees in your property have led to unhygienic conditions and could lead to spread of Corona infection,” said the order issued on June 8.

“Residents in the neighbourhood are living in unhygienic conditions (because of the droppings). Therefore, you are directed to cut the bamboo trees in your property, which falls in the town’s area, and help create a healthy environment,” the order added.

After the residents did not cut the trees, the town committee went ahead and felled them on Thursday. This led to the destruction of the egret nests and many eggs, hatchlings fell on the ground.

Photos and videos showing the hatchlings lying dead or injured on the ground went viral on social media prompting Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to direct forest and environment minister Parimal Suklabaidya to inquire into the matter.

Advertisement


On Friday, Udalguri deputy commissioner P Uday Praveen visited the area and took stock of the incident. He has directed the circle officer of the area to prepare a report on the incident.

“We have not been able to ascertain how many hatchlings and birds died as local residents took away some of them from the site after the bamboo trees were felled. We were able to rescue 88 hatchlings on Friday and send them to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Kaziranga,” Praveen said.


Meanwhile, Goons and supporters of Tangla Municipal Board chairman-cum-Khalingduar MCLA and UPPL leader Dilip Boro have attacked Northeast Now’s Udalguri correspondent Shajid Khan for reporting on the deaths of cattle egrets.

Shajid Khan was attacked by the goons at the site where nearly 250 cattle egrets died.

Advertisement

Khan has urged Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya and DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta to ensure his safety.

“Was attacked by a group of goons in aides of Tangla Municipal Board Chairman at Tangla town in Udalguri district after my highlighting of death of Cattle Egret received widespread criticism. I pray to ensure my safety
@himantabiswa @ParimalSuklaba1 @DGPAssamPolice,” Khan wrote in another tweet.


Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma directed forest and environment minister Parimal Suklabaidya to order a probe into the death of nearly 250 cattle egrets at Tangla in Udalguri district.


Advertisement

The cattle egrets died after the Tangla Municipal Board ordered to clear the bamboo groves inhabiting the birds in private lands in Tangla town on Thursday.

With inputs from Hindustan Times  and Northeast Now


For more stories follow our page Times of Northeast on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Koo

Visit our website https://timesofnortheast.com

Times of Northeast is an independent digital news platform which seeks to grab the attention of rational-minded people from Northeast India.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Animal

Manas National Park to reopen for tourists on Oct 1

Published

on

The Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve in Assam is all set to re-open for the tourist season 2023-2024.

The national park will be opened for tourists on October 1. This was announced by Rajen Choudhury, the Field Director of Manas National Park in an official communiqué issued on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, reports said that a special event has been organized at the Bahbari Range of the national park in lieu of this. Notably, the national park was reportedly closed since June 5 this year owing to the monsoon season.

The official notice read, “Consequent to completion of the stipulated monsoon closure period as prescribed by the Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, National Tiger Conservation Authority letter no. 15-1(17)/2015-NTCA dated August 18, 2015, it is hereby informed that the Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve, will be open for the 2023-24 ecotourism season with effect from October 1, 2023, subject to relevant provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the Assam Wildlife (Protection) Rules, 1997, till further notice.”

Continue Reading

Animal

1 horned Rhino Found Dead in Manas National Park; Horn recovered

Published

on

Rhino

Another skeleton of a One horned Rhino recovered at Manas National Park near Rupohi camp in the Bhuyanpara range on Saturday.

Dr. Vaibhav C. Mathur, the field director of the park reached the site after the incident took place. Prompt action was taken by the authorities to recover the rhino’s carcass.

Although the horn has been recovered from the spot, the actual cause of the rhino’s death is yet to be officially ascertain.

Earlier on August 2, the skeleton discovered at Manas National Park in Assam. Sources said the skeleton was recovered from the Bansbari zone in the national park.

The forest officials reported that the rhino might have lost its life during a fight against an adult bull.

Last month, another skeleton was recovered from a dense forest inside Manas National Park where the horn is missing from the spot.

Meanwhile, Greater Manas Conservation demanded proper investigation into the case.

What’s so special about the horn?

The Rhinos horn is the most expensive product in the black market fetching more than gold, platinum and diamond. It is used in Chinese medicine.According to traditional Chinese texts, such as Li Shih-chen’s 1597 medical text “Pen Ts’ ao Kang Mu”, rhino horn has been used in Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years and is used to treat fever, rheumatism, gout, and other disorders. It also states that the horn could also cure snakebites, hallucinations, typhoid, headaches, carbuncles, vomiting, food poisoning etc.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Featured

A pig heart transplant in Assam by Dr.Dhaniram Baruah in 1997

Published

on

Pig heart transplant

On January 7, doctors at the University of Maryland Medical School in the U.S. made news (of pig heart transplant) when they transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a 57-year-old man.

Few remember now that Dhaniram Baruah, a cardio-thoracic surgeon based in Sonapur near Guwahati, transplanted the organs of a pig into a human body in 1997. However, Dr. Baruah’s xenotransplantation procedure ended badly.

Xenotransplantation is the process of grafting or transplanting organs or tissues between members of different species.

“It is not easy for a human body to accept the organs of a pig. Time will tell whether the human body will accept the organ of a genetically-altered pig,” the 72-year-old doctor, who lost his voice after undergoing throat surgery some time ago, said via S.A. Achrekar, a senior scientist at his research institute in Sonapur.

At an international conference in 1995, Dr. Baruah had said pigs are close to humans in various aspects. He had at the time developed an “electric motor-driven artificial biological heart made of ox pericardium that was implanted in a pig”.

Dr. Baruah said he had carried out 102 animal experiments on xenotransplantation. He transplanted a pig’s heart, lung and kidneys to Purno Saikia, a 32-year-old end-stage organ failure patient, on January 1, 1997. Jonathan Ho, a Hong Kong-based doctor, had assisted him in the transplantation at his research centre.

Advertisement

But Sakia died a week later, triggering an uproar. The two doctors were arrested on January 10 under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, booked for culpable homicide and imprisoned for 40 days. Subsequently, the Assam government formed an inquiry committee that found pig heart implants to be unethical and unlawful. Source- The Hindu.

For more stories follow our page Times of Northeast on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Koo

Visit our website https://timesofnortheast.com

Times of Northeast is an independent digital news platform which seeks to grab the attention of rational-minded people from Northeast India.

Advertisement

Pig heart transplant, pig heart transplant news, pig heart transplant Assam news

Continue Reading

Trending