Poaching is no longer a clandestine activity that takes place in forests; it is rampant in the city and on the outskirts.Egrets, ibises, herons, storks, plovers, stilts and sandpipers are often the targets. Poachers of these birds do not carry any weapon. All they have is a net, a dead bird as bait, gunny bag and a motorcycle.

Kovalam Creek, Buckingham Canal near Navalur, and Madambakkam Lake on East Coast Road and Old Mahabalipuram Road that attract a variety of local migratory birds have been poaching grounds. Most of these incidents go unreported; a few are, like a recent case in which Kancheepuram foresters arrested five people who were trapping plovers in Buckingham Canal near Navalur.

The case also demolished the old theory that narikurava gypsies were the sole villains. Those arrested recently were residents of Karappakkam village on Old Mahabalipuram Road. These poachers, foresters say ,specialise in trapping birds. There are others, including narikuravas, who hunt black-naped hares and monitor lizards in other parts of the state.

A forest range officer explains the poachers' technique: They hide behind bushes after propping up a dead bird on a net spread on the lake. "They invite no suspicion as people take them for fishermen spreading nets," a forest officer said. When a flock of birds crosses the water body, they are attracted by the `standing' bird. The flock lands on the water and gets trapped in the net. The poachers pull in the net and pack the birds in gunny bags. "Many of the birds are dead by the time they are sold. Those that survive have broken wings and legs," he said.

Naturalists say the poaching shows demand for illegal bird meat has been on the rise. While narikuravas are hunter gatherers by tradition, officials say it is a matter of concern that others too are poaching birds. A decade ago the forest department appointed narikuravas as workers at Guindy National Park. It helped rehabilitate a few of them, but such efforts have been few and far between.