Stork with ring around beak finally rescued

GURUGRAM: After a five-day search, a two-and-a-half-year-old 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 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 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 immediately formed for a safe operation. Saturday, we reached the area at 6am and till 11pm, we had searched the patch near the Najafgarh Lake,” said inspector Sunil Kumar from wildlife department. Officials said it was a difficult task as they were unable to use drones due to high tension wires in the area.

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 and silently started moving towards him,” said Ahlawat.

“He tried to fly three times, but could not and then ran into the fields in the village. After four kilometres, he got tired and gave up. We informed wildlife officials and took him to Sultanpur National Park.” Wildlife officials called the doctor and arranged for a tub from which they fed the stork fish.“we have kept him under observation and will release him once we find him fit to be released,” said Vinod Kumar, Gurugram’s additional principal chief conservator of forests.