Forest dept distributes ‘Mor Chalisa’ to save peacocks
KOTA: With a view to check peacock killings in Bundi district, the forest department is distributing a booklet to make people aware about the religious and social importance of the national bird.
The 32-page booklet titled ‘Mor Chalisa’ is being distributed among the people at the Village Forest Protection and Management Committee camps in areas prone to peacock killings.
“The forest department is concerned about it (peacock killings), so we have got around 500 copies of ‘Mor Chalisa’ published for the distribution among people so that the national bird can be protected through the public awareness,” said Anil Kapoor, chief conservator of forest (territorial), Kota.
“We have already distributed 400 copies of the booklet so far,” he added. Kapoor said peacock killings have increased in Bundi district in the past few years. It has been revealed that villagers kill the national bird for its flesh and to save their crops as the bird feeds on grains.
The booklet, published by a Jaipur publisher Nawal Daga, highlights the religious and social importance of the bird through couplets. “Villagers Year 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Killed 11 12 9 9
do not kill blue bull (nilgai) and cow considering them sacred. We want them to realise the religious significance of peacock to motivate them to not kill the bird,” the forest official said. “We have also asked schools to keep a copy and ask students to recite it,” he said.
In Indian mythology, peacock is associated with Lord Krishna.
Nawal Daga, who has penned the couplets, said he had compiled 40 couplets on the bird for its conservation. “Children in particular Casualties 75 52 40 47 Arrested 5 7 6 2
can learn the lesson of peacock conservation from the start through such couplets,” he added.
Wildlife conservators have welcomed the forest department’s move. Brijesh Vijayvargiya of Peoples for Animals said, “The distribution of booklet would certainly inspire people to save the bird since it is an endangered species and falls in Schedule 1 species under the Wildlife Protection Act.” Killing the bird is a serious offence, he added.