Over 200 migratory birds found dead in Aurangabad

Over 200 migratory birds were found dead in a lake at Gandheli in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, official sources said in Aurangabad Friday.

The incident came to light after residents of the area reported about the death of the migratory birds (waders) to the state's local Animal Husbandary Department Thursday, the Deputy Commissioner of Animal Husbandry Dr J M Doiphale said.

Samples of dead birds have been sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune and High Security Animal Disease Lab in Bhopal, Doiphale told PTI.

The department has also collected water samples of the lake and has sent a few live birds to Pune and Bhopal labs.

Doiphale said post-mortem on a few birds were conducted at the department's Aurangabad lab, which confirmed that they died of pneumonia.

A local bird watcher Dilip Yardi told PTI said the birds have been dying for the last few days due to poisoning. He also said that the two species of fishes -- identified as Red Shock and Green Shock -- found in the lake could have poisoned the birds.

Meanwhile, the Bombay Natural History Society has directed its team of ornithologists, who were studying the three water bodies in Nashik, to go to Aurangabad to monitor the migratory birds there.

Director BNHS Dr Asad Rehmani told PTI in Mumbai Thursday that "our team from Nashik has poceeded to Aurangabad and we will be getting some details by evening."

To a query, Rehmani said BNHS team has not found any case of bird flu in the migratory birds in the water bodies of Nashik.