Joint effort to help birds in distress

Chennai: Residents, NGOs and forest department personnel came together on Saturday to protect the birds at the Central Revenue quarters at Anna Nagar here. Since it is the breeding season, trees on 15th street on the campus are filled with chirping birds. However, residents got in touch with the forest authorities after they found that many chicks had slipped out of their nests and were either run over by vehicles or succumbed to injuries due to  the fall.

When forest department officials suggested that the birds be removed to  avoid further danger to their lives, residents told the officials that they would prefer to have the avian fauna in the area. Therefore, the forest department along with other animal welfare NGOs came up with the idea of tying nylon nets to the trees so that birds that fall could be saved and taken care of.

On Saturday, various residents, animal welfare workers and forest department officials, including Velachery Ranger, S. David Raj, spent the day putting up the nets. The NGO workers also assured the citizens that they would come everyday to keep a check on the nets and give any immediate aid to the birds.

In another part of the city, volunteers from Save the Turtles, an NGO, held a meeting and tied up with the forest department to take up the task of spreading awareness on Olive Ridley turtles in the city. On February 4, the team is organising a sand sculpture competition to kick start the campaign. According to Hafeez Khan who runs the organisation, this is the first time that an organisation and the forest department are actively taking the initiative to run such a campaign.