State wildlife board member Arvind Mishra works on his laptop at Madhopur Govind village. Telegraph picture

Motihari, May 14: The state wildlife board is set to present a report to the forests department for the conservation of peafowl — peacock and peahen — at Madhopur Govind village.

Arvind Mishra, a member of the state wildlife board, who went on a two-day field visit to the village, shared his observations at a meeting in Patna today.

He told The Telegraph over phone: “We will soon prepare a draft report based on the inputs collected from the Champaran village. Once the government gives its nod, a work plan regarding the conservation of peafowl would be formulated with the consent of the villagers.” Principal conservator of forests Bashir Ahmad Khan, chief wildlife warden D.K. Shukla and regional chief conservator of forests, Muzaffarpur, Murariji Mishra attended the meeting.

On the directions of the forests department officers, Arvind had gone to Madhopur Govind village with field assistant Akhtar Hussain on Friday to prepare an action plan. The department had swung into action to boost the growth of peacock and peahen and ensure their preservation at the village after chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Seva Yatra to the district.

Although the villagers said there are around 200 peacocks and peahens at Madhopur Govind, spread across 700 acres, Arvind said there could not be more than 60-70 peafowl in the region.

Arvind said lack of mass awareness, particularly among youngsters, was the main reason for poor growth of peafowl in the area. Almost 80 per cent of the birds’ eggs are destroyed in the breeding season either by stray dogs or other birds.

Lal Babu Manjhi, the district forests officer, said: “We also plan to improve vegetation in the area to boost the growth of peafowl at Madhopur Govind village.”