Open-billed storks flock to Raiganj

Updated: January 2, 2015 10:10 IST 

SHIV SAHAY SINGH

The bird sanctuary there attracted almost 47,000 storks in last six months of 2014

The Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district, which attracted a record 68,000 birds in 2014, has the most Asian open-billed storks in the country.

As per records available with the Divisional Forest Officer, Raiganj, the bird sanctuary recorded about 46,842 open-billed storks between June and December 2014. “The number has increased by 7,000 over the past two years from about 39,000 in 2012-13 to over 46,000 in 2014-15,” Diparna Kumar Dutta, DFO, Raiganj told The Hindu.

“The wildlife sanctuary at Raiganj is the only place in the country where you can find open-billed stork birds in such a high concentration. It has turned into an important habitat for them and steps should be taken to preserve it,” Gopinathan Maheswaran, scientist at the Zoological Survey of India and officer-in-charge of the institute’s bird section told The Hindu.

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