Four endangered Greater Adjutant Storks were found dead on the premises of a hospital in Assam’s Kamrup district, raising fresh concerns about the safety of one of their known breeding sites, forest officials said on Monday.
Three of the birds reportedly fell from their nests and died on Friday, while another was found dead the following day.
The Moniari Tiniali State Dispensary campus, where the deaths occurred, has long served as a nesting ground for Greater Adjutant Storks, egrets and other birds that perch on tall trees within the hospital premises.
Acknowledging the ecological importance of the site, the Loharghat range office of the forest department had earlier identified the trees as a protected habitat for the endangered species and installed signboards to safeguard the area.
CCTV cameras have also been mounted on the trees to monitor the birds, forest officials said.
Officials said the dead birds have been taken by the forest department to carry out tests to ascertain the exact cause of their deaths.
Meanwhile, environmentalists and local citizens have demanded a thorough investigation into the deaths of the endangered birds and to ensure their protection.
The GAS is a huge scavenging stork that was once widely distributed across India and Southeast Asia but is now mostly confined to Assam, with a small population in Cambodia's northern plains region.