The Forest Department has launched an investigation after 33 peafowls were found dead in farms belonging to four persons near Sulur in Coimbatore district on Thursday (October 19, 2023) evening.
The carcasses of the national bird, 17 peacock and 16 peahen, were found in four adjacent farms at Gandhi Nagar in Vadambacheri panchayat near Sulur, said the officials.
While 17 peafowls were found dead in the coconut farm belonging to Shanmugaraj, 12 birds were found in the farm of Ramasamy Gounder. Two birds each were found in farms belonging to Gopalsamy and Kanthasamy.
After being alerted by farmers, the Sultanpet police visited the farms on Thursday evening and intimated the Forest Department. A team headed by P. Santhiya, forest range officer of Madukkarai forest range, inspected the farms in the presence of Vadambacheri village administrative officer and a revenue inspector. The carcasses were shifted to the Madukkarai forest range office for post-mortem.
Forest Veterinary Officer A. Sukumar performed the post-mortem examination on the birds. Gizzards of the birds contained pink coloured maize, which the veterinarian suspects were laced with poison. Samples of the maize ingested by the birds and samples of their internal organs, including that of kidney, liver and spleen, were collected for forensic analysis.
A Forest Department official said that one of the farmers had sown maize in his field two days ago. The officials suspect that poison-laced maize were scattered around the field to protect the seeds from peafowls.
The Madukkarai forest range has registered a wildlife offence report in connection with the death of the peafowls.
