Hyderabad: Animal rescue activists have urged the public to alert law enforcement agencies in case of illegal sale of Chinese manja in the city. This kills birds during the kite-flying season of Sankranti, they said.
Activists aim to spread awareness against nilon and glass-coated manja that would get entangled on the branches of trees during the kite flying season.
Shek Hussain, freelance project scientist associated with the Greater Hyderabad society for the prevention of cruelty to animals (GHSPCA), said the law enforcement agencies – the forest and police departments – seized thousands of kilos of the dangerous manja every year.
“Our volunteers brought the issue of illegal sale of manja to the attention of the law-enforcement agencies,” he said.
A. Shankaran, a wildlife officer on special duty with the forest department, said a team of officials and others would go around the city to check illegal manja sale. “The department will take care of the birds that require rescue,” he said.
GHSPCA coordinator Soudharam Bhandari said a team of volunteers on Tuesday helped rescue nine birds – six pigeons, an owl, two eagles. Of these, a pigeon died later. “We will be continuing the operation. We will take the rescued ones to veterinary hospitals and ensure treatment before releasing them into the wild,” he explained.
“Veterinary doctors find most of the birds taking weeks to recover from the glass manja injury as it affects their ability to fly. We request kite-flyers to collect all the wastage of the threads and dump them in trash bins.”
Citizens can alert the city police on WhatsApp at 9490616555 about anyone selling Chinese manja. GHSPCA has urged the citizens to inform it about the whereabouts of birds that need rescuing, on mobile numbers 8886743881 or 9949602074.
