More than 50 peacocks ‘mysteriously’ die in Thar

THARPARKAR: More than 50 peacocks have died in a fresh outbreak of a mysterious disease in three villages of Thar in the last four days. 

Previously, peacocks have died due to ‘ranikhet’ or other diseases which occur in the summer. 

However, the circumstances behind the outbreak of the new disease remain mysterious.

Locals shared that the infected peacocks had swollen eyes and water dripping from their mouths. The peacocks with these symptoms would fall unconscious and then pass away, they explained.

Responding to this, Sindh forest and wildlife officials said that they have dispatched a team to the affected villages. The officials also remarked that the eyewitness testimonies of the residents aren’t very reliable. 

Since five years, the death rate of the desert region’s peacocks continues to climb due to the spread of a lethal disease usually witnessed in the summer.

In 2012, a dreadful viral disease called ‘Ranikhet’ claimed the lives of more than 167 peacocks in a period of 24 days in Tharparkar.

Locals had said that the root cause of this viral disease is hens, which spread among other avian including the peacocks and it could not be controlled unless it is eradicated from where it originates.

In 2015, almost 200 peacocks reportedly died in the Thar area due to similar reasons.