Nearly a dozen peacocks were found dead at Hasanpur, near Gurgaon on Sunday.
The wildlife authorities who reached the village on Monday managed to recover only three carcasses as the remaining were either eaten by dogs and cats or buried by the villagers. The village is nestled in the foothills of the Aravali range.
The doctors of the local government veterinary hospital and wildlife officials turned up only after HT team informed them about the incident.
The doctors conducted post-mortem and found that the birds had died due to heat stroke. However, the viscera may be sent to the forensic science laboratory in Karnal, said a doctor.
Initially, it was suspected that the birds had died due to food poisoning.
"The birds had congestion in lungs and there were small red patches in their muscles and internal organs. They died due to congestive heart failure due to heat stroke," said Dr DS Joon, sub-divisional officer, Gurgaon veterinary hospital.
More carcasses are likely surface as the villagers have spotted several birds "limping and vomiting since the last few days".
The peacock comes under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act-1972. Although the villagers had found carcasses of peacocks on June 9, they failed to inform the wildlife authorities.
{{/usCountry}}The peacock comes under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act-1972. Although the villagers had found carcasses of peacocks on June 9, they failed to inform the wildlife authorities.
{{/usCountry}}The villagers said they couldn’t recall of such mass mortality among peacocks in the last 50-60 years. "We feed peacocks. We suspect that they died due to some disease," said Jeetram, another villager.
Another Hasanpur resident said some nomadic tribes hunt peacocks for food.
Gurgaon district forest officer Shyam Sundar has ruled out the possibility of any foul play.