Twelve peacocks were found dead in a farm near the forest area at Hamirgarh at Bhilwara district on Tuesday.
The reason behind the deaths are not clear. A team of forest officials have reached the spot to inquire in to, said a forest official.
State president of People for Animals Babulal Jaju has demanded strong action against the guilty. Jaju approached the superintendent of police & officers of the forest department to bring the guilty to book. "The rising cases of poaching of peacocks in the district is due to the lackadaisical attitude of the police & the forest department. The head of forest forces & the CMO ought to take up the matter urgently," they said.
The Wildlife Conservation Act 1972 provides for six years confinement & a fine of Rs 50,000 for killing the national bird. But in Rajasthan the crime seems unabated. The state has been seeing the poaching of peacocks in places like Haler, Ojaira, Jahajpur etc.
"It is the incapability of the police & the forest department that the criminals have not been caught so far while the poaching of the national bird continues," they said.
Recently, the Union surroundings minister Jairam Ramesh, concerned over the rise in peacock poaching, ordered a study to evaluate their number in the country. The ministry has asked the Bombay Natural History Society to get the study done.
In Rajasthan, where the bird was present in great abundance two times, cases of killing of peacocks have been on the rise. Besides, speedy urbanisation is taking a toll on the habitat of the bird.
In the coursework of the budget session of Parliament, BJP MP Arjun Ram Meghwal had raised the issue of killing of peacocks saying the national bird is being killed as there is a immense demand for the bird's feathers. The bird is also poached for its meat.
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