WWF pitches in to help save stork with plastic ring around beak

Chandigarh, The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has offered to help the Haryana Forest department in rescue operation of a stork that has its beak jammed by a plastic ring.
A doctor from WWF would be arriving at the rescue site on Tuesday to assist the teams in whatever way possible, the Additional Principal Conservator of Forest told The Tribune on Monday.
He said the health of the bird appeared to be satisfactory as it flew for about a kilometre today. Once the bird starts getting dehydrated, it will then limit its activity to walking.
The black-necked stork was spotted in the Basai wetland.
Three rescue teams are coordinating the operation to trap the bird so that the ring is removed before it is too late.
Additional Principal Conservator of Forest, Vinod Kumar, said the teams have moved closer to their rescue mission that was suspended late in the evening and would resume tomorrow.
Haryana’s Environment Minister Vipul Goel has also assured all help.
He said the government was considering serious action against the plastic dump owner whose negligence and violation of pollution norms had endangered wildlife.
Giving out details, Kumar said the rescue teams led by the Bombay National History Society (BNHS) and assisted by teams from the Wildlife Department and Forest Department have made a new trap by which they plan to get close to the stork.
“Every effort to go closer to the bird makes it nervous, so every precaution is being taken to ensure a smooth operation,” he said, adding that there were no immediate health concerns and that operation could go on for a day or two.
He said they were discussing various strategies to trap the bird without causing it any harm or anxiety.
The rescue teams are hoping that the bird would have been exhausted by now and will not go far from the spot where it was spotted today.
Found in the Najafgarh Lake on the south west of Delhi, this black-necked stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) was spotted by some bird watchers on Saturday, who informed the Forest Officials. Pictures taken by these bird watchers are being monitored by the rescue teams to keep them abreast of the bird’s condition.