As many as 13528 water dependent birds, most of which are migratory species, have been recorded in a fresh waterfowl count at Himachal’s Pong wetland as the second wave of avian influenza has gripped the area.

Till Saturday evening, seven more carcasses of migratory birds were found at Pong in Kangra district taking the toll to 78 due to the bird flu. The deaths have been reported in two migratory species namely Bar headed Geese and Greylag Geese at Nagrota Surian and Jawali area at Pong Lake.

While the migratory birds usually start their retreat from the wetland in March and return to their homeland by the first week of April, the fresh census has recorded 13528 water dependent birds at Pong. This includes 3700 Bar Headed Geese and 1200 Greylag Geese.

As per the census conducted by the Wildlife wing of Himachal Forest Department, more than 8000 migratory birds are still present at Pong and other migratory species include Common Pochard, Common Teal, Ruddy Shelduck, Northern Pintail, Common Coot, Black-Headed Gull among others.

Rahul Rohane, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Wildlife Division, Hamirpur while talking to The Pioneer said, 78 migratory birds have died since March 25 due to bird flu. The fresh waterfowl count has recorded 13528 birds at the wetland, he said. Rohane said that the Department is doing regular surveillance of migratory birds. The forest guards have been asked to monitor the situation and all precautionary measures are being taken, he added.

At Least 5006 migratory birds had died till February in the first wave of avian influenza- H5N1 that had hit Pong wetland. After the beginning of the second wave of bird flu, the Pong wetland has been closed for visitors.

Notably, the Pong Dam, also known as Pong Reservoir, Pong Dam Lake and the Maharana Pratap Sagar is a well-known wildlife sanctuary and one of the international wetland sites declared in India by the Ramsar Convention.

Every year, more than one lakh migratory birds of over 100 species from Siberia and Central Asia descend on Pong wetland for their winter sojourn.

During the annual waterfowl count held in February this year, a total of 1,08,578 birds of 96 species were counted at Pong. This included 101,431 of 51 species of water dependent migratory birds, 6,433 of 29 species of water dependent resident birds and 714 birds of 16 other species.