Times of India , Monday, December 10, 2007

Correspondent : Staff Reporter

BERHAMPUR (ORISSA): The forest department has declared the Nalabana bird sanctuary inside the Chilika Lake - the country's biggest waterfowl habitat where the migratory birds land in large numbers - as "No entry zone" to curb poaching of the avian guests. As the concentration of the Siberian birds is maximum at the Nalabana bird sanctuary so it was declared as "No entry zone" for visitors to provide safety to the winged guests who migrate to the lagoon to escape the biting winter back home, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Chilika Wildlife Division Abhimanyu Behera said. To curb poaching of birds the forest department has also set up a control-room, which was functioning round-the-clock to receive information about the poaching, he said. Altogether 61 anti-poaching camps had been set up in different locations of the lake which included two mobile squads moving in the 1100 sq km Chilika and on the shore. One section of police force had also been deployed in the lake to assist the forest personnel. The bird protection committee formed with the involvement of local people had been extending their active cooperation by informing the poaching activities in the lake, Behera said. Meanwhile, despite efforts by wildlife officials to make the lake a no poaching area and provide safety to the winged guests, killing of the birds in the lake was witnessed this year as well, official sources said. The anti-poaching squad of the Chilika Wildlife Division had arrested four persons in this connection and seized 26 birds from them this year so far.

SOURCE : Times of India, Monday, December 10, 2007