Jaipur: The national bird peacock is in real danger in Rajasthan as the number of attacks on them is increasing by the day. Eight peacocks were found dead in an agricultural field in Suriyapada village in Banswara district Thursday while three were shot dead by poachers in Ajmer district.

"We have sent the carcasses of the peacocks found in the field for post-mortem. Preliminary investigations reveal that they died after eating some poisonous material.

We have registered a case against the farmer on whose field they were found dead and started investigations into it," a forest official from Banswara, about 550 km from here, told IANS. In the other incident, seven people in police uniform shot dead three peacocks in Kehrishankar village in Ajmer district Thursday.

When the villagers tried to chase, the poachers ran away in a Maruti van. "We have launched a search for the poachers," a police official said. Rajasthan has become a notorious place for peacocks as daily cases of poaching are being reported from different parts of the state.

A recent survey by People for Animals (PFA) showed that as many as 10 peacocks were being killed daily in Rajasthan. However, the state government has so far failed to curb the increasing toll of peacocks.

Thirty-six villages in 14 districts are said to be the most dangerous places for peacocks in the state. "Maximum deaths are taking place in Ajmer, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh and the Shekhawati belt of the state and according to available information over 250 peacocks have been killed in these places in the last few months," Babulal Jaju, PFA's Rajasthan head, told IANS.

Jaju added that the attacks on peacocks generally go unreported. The survey further alleged that the tribals, who eat the white meat of birds, usually kill peacocks.

The demand for exports of feathers of male peacocks also leads to the deaths of the national bird.

Source : IANS