Authorities found approximately 50 peafowl dead on a farm after they ingested pesticide-infused maize grains a farmer had scattered around his land, according to reporting by The Hindu.
Officials from the forest department said they received notice of the incident and went to investigate. When they arrived, they found close to 50 dead peahens, peacocks, and juvenile birds across the farm.
An official from the forest department explained, per The Hindu: "He had mixed the grains with pesticides and rodenticide and scattered them across the land. The peafowl had consumed the grains, and this was confirmed in the postmortem report."
The farmer said he had spread maize grains infused with pesticides and rodenticides around his farmland to deal with rats.
The Indian peafowl, or peacock, is the national bird of India because of its ecological and cultural significance. Due to its status as the national bird, the species is granted special conservation efforts and is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, which prohibits hunting or killing them.
Peafowl are vital to the ecosystem, as they help control pest populations and venomous snake populations and spread seeds to promote more plant growth. When they are killed, local ecosystems can become unbalanced, which affects the environment and human communities.
These birds often live near agricultural land. Because they are foragers, they feed on farmers' crop grains, which can prompt farmers to take action to protect their crops.
This is far from the first occurrence of poisoned peafowl in India. In 2023, after receiving a tip, authorities discovered 33 dead peafowl on four farms near Coimbatore. Earlier this year, locals in Hanumanthapura found around 20 of these birds dead near a stream. While the cause of their deaths was unknown, the peafowl were close enough to farmland that the likelihood of them being poisoned was high.
In this particular case of peafowl deaths, authorities arrested the farmer responsible for spreading the poisoned maize grains and are further investigating the crime. If convicted under the Wildlife Protection Act, the farmer could face a prison sentence or a significant fine.
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