The black-crowned night heron that was rescued. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Alipurduar, June 23: A 23-year-old youth from a village on the fringes of Buxa Tiger Reserve (West) yesterday rescued a black-crowned night heron from the hands of two men who had injured the bird with the intention of eating it.

Foresters said the incident proved that their awareness programmes on wildlife conservation among fringe villagers were having an effect.

Last night around nine, Pranesh Sarkar of Bash Tari village was returning home when the beam of his torch caught a couple of men running ahead of him. Although Pranesh was almost home, he followed them and found they were chasing a bird that was unable to fly. When the bird took shelter under a bush, Pranesh was the first one to dive in and catch it.

The men in their early thirties demanded that Pranesh hand them the bird as they wanted to eat it. But Pranesh refused and a scuffle ensued. Pranesh held on to the bird and started shouting and his friends, who live nearby, came out. The two men saw they were outnumbered and fled.

Pranesh kept the bird in his house for the night and got in touch with foresters in the morning. The bird was brought to the Rajabhatkhawa rescue centre and its treatment begun.

The foresters thanked Pranesh and his friends.

“It is very nice to see villagers coming forward to protect wildlife and birds,” said L.G. Lepcha, the field director of the reserve. “Earlier, too, there have been a couple of incidents where villagers saved the lives of spotted deer. We organise awareness camp on protection of wild animals in villages adjacent to forests throughout the year. It is good to see that these programmes are having an effect.”