In a bid to avert any risk of avian influenza virus (H5NI) in Himachal, the State’s Forest Department has launched active surveillance and monitoring at Pong Dam Lake, which is known as migratory birds’ paradise.
As more than 55,000 migratory birds have so far descended on the Pong wetland in Kangra district for their winter sojourn, the Forest Department has also decided to collect samples from migratory birds for bird flu testing.
The bird flu scare comes amid Covid-19 pandemic outbreak across the world. Hundreds of thousands of birds are being culled in countries in Europe and East Asia as both regions are grappling with an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Notably, the hill state- Himachal is among the worst affected states due to Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
“The teams of forest guards and other field staff deputed at Pong wetland have been directed to keep a strict vigil and report to the office in case of death of any migratory bird. We will also collect samples of faecal droppings of migratory birds for bird flu testing,” said Rahul Rohane, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Wildlife Division, Hamirpur while talking to The Pioneer.
Escaping extreme winter chill in their summer habitat and braving the high snow-laden peaks of Himalayas, lakhs of migratory birds from Central Asia and Siberian reach Pong Dam every year.
Earlier in March also, the samples from migratory birds that had visited Pong Dam were collected and sent for testing. All samples had tested negative for avian influenza virus, said Rohane.
The samples of blood, faecal or throat swab of the birds are collected for the disease investigation.
There have been sporadic reports of outbreaks of avian related diseases like bird flu in the past years, which can be communicable to human beings. Earlier this year, a bird flu outbreak was reported in parts of Kerala and Karnataka.
Rohane said, “The Covid-19 and bird flu related guidelines have been received from the Government of India and we are following all the protocols. The field staff has been directed to keep a close watch on migratory birds at the Pong wetland.”
“Till now, around 55000 migratory birds of around 70 species have arrived at Pong. At present, the wetland is opened for the visitors,” he added.
Pong Dam wetland, known as ‘Birding Paradise’, is currently hosting migratory birds of different species namely Eurasian Coot, Northern Pintail, Common Teal, Northern Shoveler, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Black-headed Gull, Brown-headed Gull, Little Ringed Plover, Ruddy Shelduck, Gadwal, Eurasian Wigeon, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Pallas’s Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Great Cormorant, Osprey, White Wagtail among many others.
The Pong Dam, about 100 kms from Dharamshala, is known as Pong Reservoir, Pong Dam Lake and the Maharana Pratap Sagar. The site is a well-known wildlife sanctuary and one of the international wetland sites declared in India by the Ramsar Convention.
According to the census exercise conducted in January this year, as many as 1,15,701 birds of 114 species were recorded at the Pong Dam Lake. The figure included 1,04,032 migratory waterfowls of 60 species, 10,377 resident water birds of 30 species and 1,292 birds of 24 other local species.
During census, the Pong Lake had recorded an increase by 68 percent in the number of Bar-Headed Geese as compared to the previous year.
