A month back DFO of Kanniyakumari Mr. M. Ilayaraja made an announcement to the public regarding the pet birds. He had instructed the public if they were raising any Indian wild birds in their home especially parakeets, mynas it should be surrendered to the forest department. After the announcement was made there was a surprising number of owners turned up at the forest department office to return their pet Rose-ringed parakeets. It was interesting to note that there were few Alexandrine parakeets also. The current status of the Alexandrine parakeets is “Near threatened”.
Soon there were 50 parakeets in the Forest Department. So they were all sent to Udhayagiri fort where the injured animals, birds are usually handled. Initially the parakeets were kept in the small cages used by the owners. For the longer run, it was decided to use the big cage that was used for the famous Ockhi Cinereous Vulture which was released back in the wild in Rajasthan.
Kanniyakumari Nature Foundation got the approval from the DFO to get involved in fixing the cage for the use of parakeets. Vinod from Kanniyakumari Nature Foundation and Mr. Raja Anthony APW from the forest department got involved in this project. The mesh hole in the existing cage was big, so a wire mesh with small holes was fixed surrounding the cage.
After the basic cage structure was done, additional works like dead branches for the parakeets to walk around, a small structure to hold water for the parakeets were also done. Lots of thoughts were put into the cage to make it safe for the parakeets. Also in addition to the gate in the entrance, a steel chain curtain was also done to prevent the birds, butterflies entering from outside. On a trial basis, initially 2 parakeets were released to the big cage from their small cage. Slowly they got the idea of the big space and started hopping around. They eagerly ate their fruits, corn, seeds and they were fed frequently.
After few days, DFO Mr.M.Ilayaraja visited the venue and inspected the cage. He was satisfied with the structure and released another batch of parakeets in the cage.
They readily got accustomed to the new cage and started moving around in a relaxed manner. Few even had a good, strong flight. All the parakeets had their primary feathers cut off. These parakeets will be closely monitored for the next few months to see if their feathers will become normal again.
Catching any birds from wild is illegal and punishable by law and so is raising any bird at home that is found in the wild.
If the population of the particular bird species is already decreasing and that has high demand in the market, there is always a threat that the bird species can go extinct by poaching. As a part of awareness to the public, these steps are taken by the Forest Department.