700 storks die as tree falls in Assam village

The birds, mostly young storks, died as the branches of the banyan tree in which they had their colony fell into a pond. The tree is on the campus of a Buddhist monastery at Banlung village under Silonijan police station in Karbi Anglong.

“The villagers woke up to the sound of a crash followed by cries of the birds. We rushed out to see what was happening and saw monks shouting for help,” Dibyadhar Shyam, a resident of the village told The Indian Express over the phone.

Shyam, who is also a forester in the Silonijan range, intimated Arup Ballabh Goswami, a honorary wildlife warden at Golaghat, who in turn called up the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation centre at Kaziranga National Park for urgent medical support. Banlung village is about 80 km from Kaziranga.

Shyam said that while storks are poorer than other birds in their normal reflexes, most of the adults too suffered serious injuries and died along with the younger ones. “This colony of birds has been in our village for about eight years now.”

While about 500 dead birds have been recovered from the pond and the surrounding area, 67 are undergoing treatment at the rehab centre in Kaziranga. The centre, however, has only one vet. Eleven birds died while being shifted to the centre on Tuesday, Shyam informed.