Jhajjar men rescue stork after 5-day search, to be felicitated
GURUGRAM: After a five-day search, a two-and-a-half-yearold, male black-necked stork whose beak was stuck in a plastic ring was rescued on Wednesday morning from Kherki Majra, 9 kilometres away from Gurugram. The plastic ring was removed and the bird, which had its first meal in at least five days, is now under observation at Sultanpur National Park.
The bird was first spotted in the Basai wetland, about 34 kilometres from Delhi, on June 7, by a Delhi-based birder who noticed the stork had a ring around its beak and took a picture of it. The stork flew off towards Najafgarh lake before anyone could approach it, said Ashok Khasa, a veterinary surgeon in Gurugram’s wildlife department.
On Saturday, the wildlife department put together three teams consisting of wildlife officials, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) members, and birders from Delhi and Haryana’s Jhajjar, and began a search.
“As soon as we received the picture (from the Delhi-based birder), the task was assigned to our teams. Teams were immedi- ately formed for a safe operation. Saturday, we started early and reached the area at 6am and till 11 pm, we had searched the first patch near the Najafgarh Lake,” said inspector Sunil Kumar from the wildlife department.
Officials said it was a difficult task as they were unable to use drones due to high tension wires in the area and the noise would have made the bird shift base. They also tried setting traps with nets, but the bird flew away.
Ultimately, the black-necked stork was rescued by two birders from Jhajjar who were not part of the official rescue teams. Rakesh Ahlawat, 28, from Dighal, and Sonu Dalal, 32, from Mandothi , spotted the bird at 7.20am, near the Kheri Majra fields. They followed the stork for four kilometers before they rescued him.
“We both were trying to rescue the bird for last three days but could not spot him. On Wednesday, we reached the area where the wildlife team was expecting him to be and started looking in the field. I spotted him,” said Ahlawat.