It won’t be long before the national bird will become a rare sight in the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary thanks to the rampant poaching of peacocks.

The forest department has chalked out a strategy to keep a strict vigil on the poaching of peacocks. According to forest officials, search operations are regularly conducted in the areas adjoining Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary and Dhalbhum forest division to check the smuggling of peacocks.

Sources in the forest department suspect that villagers of Narga, Barki, Sagdih, Pipla, Kuting, Kesarpur, Narsinghpur and Bhilai Phari hunt peacocks in the sanctuary every year and hide the birds in their homes.

When the peacocks lay eggs, the villagers mix them with that of chickens so that no one can suspect. And then the chicken is made to sit on the eggs. When the eggs hatch, the villagers smuggle them to West Bengal.

Sources say smugglers from various states gather in Calcutta to buy peacocks. They easily manage to get Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 for a young peacock. Those who buy the birds further smuggle them to neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan at a very high price.

The sources revealed that the price of an Indian peacock is pretty high in the international market. And since the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary has an impressive peacock population, the demand for the national bird has increased.

For villagers, smuggling peacocks has become an easy way to mint money. R.P. Singh, range officer, Dalma, said: “We are concerned about reports of smuggling of rare species of animals from the sanctuary. We have received complaints that villagers are trapping peacocks and selling them at high price in different states.”

He said search operations in the forest areas and neighbouring villages have helped keep a tab on the activities of the villagers. The regular raids have played a key role in tightening the noose around smugglers.

“The action taken by the forest department has forced the villagers to reduce their criminal activities,” said Singh adding that a lot more needs to be done.

He informed that the population of peacocks in Dalma Wild Life Sanctuary is impressive. In the last Waterhole census, the forest department found 120 peacocks in the sanctuary. “The census was conducted through the water-hole system, which is carried out to count the numbers of elephants. We are sure the number of peacocks would have increased within a year. But we suspect that rampant smuggling of peacocks still pose a threat to the bird and a challenge for the forest department,”said Singh.

According to wildlife experts, peacock being the national bird there are people who are ready to pay lakhs to have the feathered guests in their homes. Being a docile bird they are easy to keep. Since there are countries where peacocks are not easily available, people go to any extent to keep them at their homes and this in turn has increased the demand for the bird in the international market.

Parvinder Bhatia