100 cattle egrets, crows found dead in Aligarh

More than 100 cattle egrets and nine crows were found dead at two different sites in Sasni gate and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus in Uttar Pradesh. The exact cause of death is not yet known.

Aligarh: More than 100 cattle egrets (known as Buffalo birds) and nine crows were found dead under mysterious circumstances at two different sites in Sasni gate and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

Amid bird flu fears, the AMU administration has directed the officials concerned to stop serving chicken on the campus.

According to District Magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh, forest officials rushed to the spot and sent one of the carcasses for post-mortem and buried the remaining. He said the exact cause of death can be ascertained only after receiving the autopsy report.

Aligarh's forest divisional director Satish Kumar, meanwhile, said that preliminary investigations indicated that the cattle egrets either consumed some pesticides or were suffering from some disease.

He said, one of the birds was alive when the forest team reached the site and has been sent for treatment. The birds were nesting in the area which has a large number of trees.

(IANS)