Kota, Two to seven-day-old carcasses of 12 peacocks were found in the buffer zone of Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve in Indergarh range of Bundi district on Friday noon, with officials suspecting disease may have caused the deaths.
Meanwhile, seven turtles were found dead at the bank of a water body near Dodi village in the territorial area of the tiger reserve, under Bansi forest checkpost on Friday.
Peacock, the national bird, is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Act, 1972, that grants highest level of legal protection in India, while turtles are highly protected under the act, with many species listed under Schedule I and Schedule IV.
Locals in Kolaspura village in buffer area of Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve reported peacock carcasses lying near the Bheruji temple, following which a forest department team rushed to the spot and recovered the remains of at least 12 peacocks.
Assistant Conservator of Forest Shourabh Mangal said carcasses of 12 peacocks, including seven males and five female, were recovered from buffer area of the tiger reserve in Indergarh range.
The exact cause of death will be ascertained only after the post-mortem report is received, however, no evidence of illegal hunting or poisoning of the peacocks was found on the spot, the official said.
{{/usCountry}}The exact cause of death will be ascertained only after the post-mortem report is received, however, no evidence of illegal hunting or poisoning of the peacocks was found on the spot, the official said.
{{/usCountry}}The carcasses were disposed off as per norms after post-mortem by medical board at Indergarh, and the report is awaited.
Dr Kavita, a member of the medical board that conducted the post-mortem, said the peacock carcasses are two to seven days old, suggesting death at different times at the same spot.
Few of the carcasses indicated death by disease, however the cause of death would be ascertained byb the sample report which is awaited, she said.
The samples have been collected and would be sent to a laboratory for examination, she added.
Meanwhile, wildlife activist Vitthal Sanadhya alleged that forest officials did not respond to the report of peacock carcass in RVTR buffer zone, and initially pushed the matter to Swami Madhopur jurisdiction.
In a separate incident, seven turtles four female and three male were found dead beside a water body near Dodi village in the territorial area of RVTR.
Prima facie, the turtles died due to suffocation, said Dr Narendra, a member of the medical board that conducted post-mortem of the carcasses.
Villagers reported seven turtles lying dead on the bank of the water body, Bansi checkpost in-charge Dayaram said.
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