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Birds are caught in the wild, mainly by certain tribes who for generations have been trapping and selling birds. They initiate children and teenagers, hoping the forest officials will not arrest minors. Some of the means and methods utilised by them are stated below.
Shooting: If it doesn't matter whether the bird to be trapped comes to hand dead or alive then, air guns, catapults and spears are commonly used. Certain tribes are adept at spearing birds. They use a six-inch pointed needle-like spear called takkva which they throw up fast, hitting the bird. It suffers and bleeds to death.
Bird lime: Since bird lime spoils the plumage it is only used for trapping birds which are to be killed soon.
Choona (slaked lime) mixed with Peepal tree sap which forms a thick adhesive substance, is applied to slender long branches. Or, the bird lime could be latex or lhasa made by boiling Peepal tree sap with mustard oil.
The bird lime is applied usually to bamboo which is surreptitiously brought close to the birds – immediately the end of the sticky branch touches a bird, it gets stuck to it. Unable to escape, fear and panic follows.
Some times lime sticks are placed outside roost holes and birds are disturbed by clapping or by hitting the trunk of the tree. The commotion makes tricks them into coming out, and when they do, they get stuck to the bird lime. They hang on the sticky bamboo, unable to move.
Traps: Another method that also utilizes bird lime is laying dome-shaped traps made from such sticky and non-sticky sticks. The contraption includes a dangling string at the end of which a live insect like cricket is attached. Any bird that tries to swoop down to catch the suspended and swaying insect, is itself unsuspectingly trapped because it touches the bird lime. In place of insects, mice are some times used. And, quite often, these bird lime sticks are set up along with a female decoy bird whose distress calls attracts many males of the specie, thus making the process easier and faster for the trapper; but, extremely cruel for the creatures involved.
Some traps are made of wire. And, fall traps are used with female decoys too. Not only does the door of the cage collapse, but a net falls upon the bird when it alights on the cage. Many get injured and suffer a lot. Release may not be death.
Nets: In addition to nets which are laid down, using birds as bait to attract other birds is also a common practice. For example, the grey francolins that are trapped en masse.
Made of jute netting and thin bamboo sticks, clap-nets are operated from a distance with long strings. When many birds gather at the spot, the concealed net is made to fall upon them making it impossible for the birds to fly away. Fear and panic sets in.
Mist-nets are also set up in jungles. Every bird that flies into them, including migratory ones, get unexpectedly entangled. They too panic and struggle to escape and get injured. For example between October and April the migratory yellow-breasted bunting and the red-headed bunting are trapped in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and parts of Jharkhand.
Fine mosquito nets called vadap spread over 4-5 kilometres of water, like over the Ujani Dam within the Bhigwan Wildlife Sanctuary, are used to poach fingerlings and endangered birds. Although the javelin is banned, torches and javelins are utilized for specially killing maral at night. These fishermen poachers use half-boiled rice mixed with chemicals to kill the fingerlings which results in unconsciousness and therefore making it easy to collect them. Migratory birds such as the flamingo, grey heron, water hen and white heron are killed by these poachers using the fingerlings mixed with poison. In addition, nets are set up at particular heights over the surface of the water and special structures are made of bamboo and net called phase which trap birds off the dam banks. Blasts of water using grenades kill big fish and birds too. It is also common for bows and arrows to be used to kill birds in this area.
In 2021 nets were laid to protect the 5 crore saplings that were planted over 2,000 hectares of land in the Sunderbans mangroves in order to reduce the impact of cyclones, although no trees had allowed to be planted inside mangroves since 1990. It is the norm that no trees should be cut in forests, but surely it should also be the norm that no trees should be planted in them either. The nets obstructed their movement of wild animals and birds, and landed up trapping many including deer and wild boar.
In winter 2014 beaks, feathers and bones of poached flamingos were found in Uran (Navi Mumbai) – they were hunted with gulels/catapults and even openly with long barreled guns for their flesh sold as “special chicken meat”. Flamingos are also captured with the help of net traps.
It was estimated that at least 1,20,000 migratory Amur falcons (from Siberia en route Africa) were illegally killed in Nagaland every year. Fishing nets that are 30-40 metres long and 10-12 metres high were erected in the area where the birds roosted at night. (During the day they sat on the transmission lines so could not be captured.) Every morning hunters transferred the captured live birds into mosquito nets or cane baskets and transported them to markets on poles. There their feathers were plucked (like chickens) and their bodies smoked for a long shelf life.
In 2012-13 a programme to help the Amur falcons was launched by conservation organizations as a result of which within just one or two years the birds were considered guests by the very people who used to hunt them for their meat and feathers. Local watch squads were formed consisting of ex-poachers from the villages to prevent hunting, especially during roosting. Ecotourism as an alternate source of livelihood was also promoted. However, for BWC the sad aspect is that as an additional incentive to make hunters stop killing Amur falcons, 1,000 chickens were given to over 30 families of hunters and landowners to start poultry businesses. For BWC every bird matters, not only migratory wild ones – why should chickens be bred to be killed just to save others from being hunted for their flesh?
In November 2018 it was reported that in Gundbala in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, people were laying down nets across freshly harvested paddy fields, or strung across bushes and trees, in order to trap parakeets and other birds to be sold in nearby markets. This proved that such almost invisible, but strong nets were not only used for capturing birds in forests but also in farmlands. Such nets don’t capture birds alive, but since the birds get entangled in them, their frantic struggles result in mutilation and injury to their bodies and wings, and legs fracture resulting in pain.
“Bird-lovers” also trap birds in nets: No different to what poachers do, birds are also caught in nylon mist-nets put up on the trees they visit by “bird lovers” who band/ring/tag wild birds. There is a Bird Banders’ Training Programme run by the Bombay Natural History Society which admits that the birds do undergo stress, injury and even death. Though there are newer techniques like radio collaring, metal ringing or banding of birds is increasingly being used around the world as a so-called major research tool in which a small band or tag is tied to the birds’ legs and helps track their movements. The trapped birds are weighed and their wings, bills, heads, torsos and tails measured and noted along with their shapes, sizes and colours which often indicate if males or females. Beauty Without Cruelty feels it is traumatic for the wild birds to be handled by humans, and crueller still to tag them with rings made of aluminium alloy (they carry unique identification numbers). Birds need to be left alone in their habitats. Knowledge gained through banding (usually after the bird is found dead and records shared) is not worth the suffering inflicted upon the birds.
For example, in 2013 some wildlife activists were justified in objecting to the permission granted by the Maharashtra Forest Department to the Wildlife Research and Conservation Society to extend and repeat at Melghat in Maharahstra, the research on the forest owlet they were undertaking in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh. Trapping birds for banding, especially when only about 400 were left (100 of which were in Melghat according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature) was needlessly putting them through stress that would result in changes of their characteristics which in turn would hamper their population growth.
It is not commonly known that birds also get caught in nylon nets or wire mesh fixed for ventilation in buildings (it is in fact called bird netting!) or as fencing, so it is best not to use such netting that traps birds. Pigeons have been seen hanging on such nets and if the fire brigade is not called to their rescue they linger and die of hunger, thirst and panic.
Noose: A traditional method is a kind of slip-noose attached to the back of cattle taken to graze in and around forest areas. The noose works with the movement of the animal’s tail. Quite often the trapped bird’s leg fractures. Such severely hurt birds are left to their fate – they suffer, linger and die – due to pain, hunger and thirst.
Another noose method is when small birds are kept as bait in cages on the ground, around which well hidden plastic nooses are laid. When a bird lands, its leg get entangled in a noose. In trying to escape, it may break it.
Snares: Concealed on the ground, in foliage or placed near the eggs in nests, snares aim at trapping unsuspecting adult birds. A snare cuts into the body of a bird and the more it struggles the deeper it cuts. It is quite likely that the bird suffers amputation and bleeds to death. Earlier poachers used creepers and bamboo traps, now they utilize binding wires used for construction work, wires from solar fences and bike clutch cables because they are cheap, effective and easy to hide. (Hundreds of barbed wire snares laid down by poachers have also killed or seriously injured tigers and leopards in the forests of India.)
Nest-breakers: Nests are located, raided, and chicks stolen. This is done by climbing trees and literally picking up the little birds with bare hands, or with the help of hooks if unable to reach inside. Some times, the birds are smoked from one side and captured in a net as soon as they emerge.
Trappers raise the chicks imitating their mothers as much as possible: they line a basket like a nest, tap on the side before dropping insects in the chicks’ mouths, and even go to the extent of making them snatch insects from their own human mouths just like they would from their mothers’ mouths.
Sold Online
In September 2021 BWC sent e-mails to the CEOs of many online sellers of slingshots/catapults/gulel and air-guns/rifles & bullets pointing out that they were weapons used for hunting and can obviously cause injury and loss of lives to both wild and domesticated animals and birds, even to humans if targeted. They can not be considered toys or even fall under the category of sports. BWC also requested that they not sell books on hunting because they impart knowledge on how and where to find wild life in order to kill them. We drew their attention to the fact that by selling such items it attracts the provisions of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 and the seller becomes a part to abetment.
BWC sent a detailed e-mail appeal to Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, ShopClues, Bloon Toys, Desertcart, 24seven India, Ubuy India, Order2India, Cart2India, My Web Store Shopping, Eassymall, etc. requesting them to stop selling these items. We also alerted the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Director of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry followed by the Animal Welfare Board of India.
Desertcart immediately replied: “Will raise that to our IT team to have it removed on the website.” Ubuy’s reply was also greatly appreciated: “We already informed the concerned team to remove the products which are mentioned in the letter with immediate effect and will ensure that no seller will be allowed to sell such products on our website in the future.”
The biggest offender Amazon responded that as per their policy they did not allow the sale and listing of such products, but in order to stop it asked BWC to send URLs of those products that were objectionable! BWC sent them 17 pages full of URLs. The reply received from the Counsel for Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd states among several other things that “Our Client has, in accordance with its policy and obligations under law, reviewed the 142 URLs that you have shared vide Your Email. You are hereby informed that on the basis of this review, our Client has taken down a total of 21 product listings, out of the 142 identified and provided by you, which met the bar of restriction as per our Client’s policy.”
In 2021 the Air Gun Surrender Abhiyan in Arunachal Pradesh was started. Hunting of birds and small animals, even butterflies was increasing because air guns were so easily available online and did not require a licence. BWC hopes the campaign will spread to all states and if there is no demand then the supply & sale of slingshots/catapults/gulel and air-guns/rifles & bullets will automatically diminish.
Hunting Peacocks
Trapping turns into hunting when the birds are killed in traps, or poisoned. Some poachers use bright lights to attract peacocks (India’s national bird) and catch them quickly as they can hardly fly.
In fact, illumination on trees also harms birds, bats, insects and other living beings. Decorative lights should not be suspended on trees however pretty they make look. Nor should strings of small lights be wound around tree trucks and branches. They adversely affect the trees, birds and other lives because they are sensitive to electrical frequencies and light. For example, new blinding street lights around DPS Lake in Nerul in 2024 resulted in disorienting migratory flamingos and they crashed into objects, landed on the road, and eventually died.
Groups of peacocks are frequently found dead after consuming pesticide laced grain and seed – intentional or unintentional is any one’s guess. The “attraction” is their beautiful coloured tail feathers, with their “novelty” meat being a bonus for the poachers.
Killing a peacock is strictly prohibited and results in imprisonment up to seven years plus a fine since it is listed under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
(Incidentally large wildlife is also poached via poisoning. For example, in 2013-14 the Heritage Animal Task Force estimated 78 elephants had “mysteriously” died in Kerala’s forests having being killed with poisoned pineapples, jackfruits and mangos. Whereas, tigers, leopards and others are poached using leg snares known as kharakha.)
Human Birdbrains
To the misfortune of parakeets, roadside fortune tellers have not stopped keeping them. Despite the birds which are always found in a very poor condition, being confiscated by the police and taken to rescue centres, the activity some how continues. For example, in December 2013, forest department personnel caught 11 rose-ringed parakeets (a protected species under the Wildlife Act) at Bengaluru’s Sajjan Road Circle fair. Confined to tiny cages, they were dehydrated, their wings (including primary feathers) had been clipped, and the claws and feet of some had been amputated.
In Bengaluru these fortune tellers who hail from Tamil Nadu, live in Goraguntepalya. Way back in 1999-2000 they were raided and 160 parakeets had been confiscated from them but they did not give up their practice. During the breeding season they themselves poach fledglings from their forest nests and train them to pick cards.
The solution obviously lies in educating people into not relying on innocent parrots and munias also trapped and trained to pick cards, to predict their future. These birds should also never be released into the wild because most can not even fly and they would definitely not know how to survive on their own. |
