Birds suffer from heat wave in India

Heat preys on Delhi birds
By Prathiba Raju | 31 May 2010 | 3:08pm 0 Comment

New Delhi, May 31 (IANS) Nobel is thirsty and tired. The little dove is covered with ice cubes and being administered glucose at a hospital in Chandni Chowk where as many as 70 other rescued birds like Nobel have been admitted for sunstroke.

New Delhi, May 31 (IANS) Nobel is thirsty and tired. The little dove is covered with ice cubes and being administered glucose at a hospital in Chandni Chowk where as many as 70 other rescued birds like Nobel have been admitted for sunstroke.

'She's suffering from heat exhaustion,' said a doctor at the Charity Bird Hospital, Chandni Chowk, after examining the white bundle of feathers. All the birds being treated are housed in separate cages.


According to veterinary doctors, over 300 birds are treated every day in Delhi for sunstroke. March and April this year were the hottest in India in 100 years, and in May temperatures have regularly shot past 45 degrees Celsius in the capital.


Delhi has an amazing bird variety, but their numbers are dwindling considerably owing to increasing pollution and urbanisation. Heatstroke is another factor that claims many lives.


Y.D. Gaur, a veterinary doctor at the Charity Bird Hospital, said: 'Summer is the worst time for birds as hundreds of them are grounded or fall prey to persistent heat waves.'


'Over 70 birds are treated every day for sunstroke in our hospital and it takes more than three days for a bird to fully recover from the stroke.'


The 80-year-old hospital, which is run by a charitable trust, houses 6,000 winged patients. It has different wards or coops for birds, a research laboratory and intensive care units.


According to Gaur, birds are a neglected community in India as they don't have separate vaccines.


'While animals have exclusive medicines here, birds, barring hen and cocks, have no vaccines. In Western countries, they have separate vaccines for birds - pigeons in particular. As a result, their population is high there,' Gaur told IANS.


'Vultures, doves and sparrows are facing extinction,' he said. The consumption of contaminated food sprayed with insecticides proves fatal for several species of birds here.


Delhi also has a charity birds hospital run by the Shri Vijayanand Sureshwar Jain Sewa trust in Shahdara and Prembhavan in Karol Bagh.Wildlife SOS, an NGO, and the Sonadi charitable trust in Najafgarh also treats sick birds.


A caretaker in Karol Bagh who provides water to pigeons said: 'These 'kabootars' are one variety that is often struck by seasonal maladies such as dehydration in summer and pneumonia in winter. They can also suffer from cancer, paralysis, diarrhoea and blindness.'


Geeta Seshamani, founder of Friendicoes, SECA (Society for Eradication of Cruelty to Animals), told IANS: 'The population of birds is declining drastically in the national capital as the original green belt is missing and the ground water is contaminated. The indigenous native trees are important for any bird community. Many cut down the trees and the exotic plants do not sustain in the long run.'


Common household birds like sparrows and crows can't be spotted easily in Delhi any more and soon doves and kites could join the list, opine ornithologists and wildlife experts.


'We rescue 800 kites a year. They are either dehydrated or poisoned with toxins and pesticides. The number of these scavenging birds, which clean the city, is declining slowly,' Seshamani added.


Abhishek, who monitors the helpline of Wildlife SOS, a voluntary organisation, told IANS: 'The number of rescued birds goes up in summer. As the blistering sun reduces their visibility, these birds just droop down.


'Most of them are kites and pigeons. While rising heat take a toll on kites, pigeons succumb to viral diseases and paralysis,' he added.


Lack of nesting sites in modern concrete buildings, disappearing kitchen gardens, increased use of pesticides in farmlands and the non-availability of food sources are the main reasons for the decline in several bird species in the city, say experts.


(Prathiba Raju can be contacted at prathiba.r@ians.in)



Copyright Indo-Asian News Service

It's really sad to hear that the birds are suffering greatly from the high temperatures, but at the same time it's so good to know that someone cares and is trying to help them!
I hope that the love and care of urban birds and other animals spreads to other parts of the Indian subcontinent, as Priya and Dev could do with more support for their efforts!

I like that there are some places to take the birds.

Matilda wrote:

I like that there are some places to take the birds.

:Yes:

Thank God for those clinics. Didn't realize that the birds had it so hard there.

There are and I found maybe a hundred clinics in India, that treat birds. I put the list in the Matilda's list forum.
I can't vouch for any of them but at least it's a starting place.

It truly is sad what those poor birds are having to endure.
I'm glad there are places to take them.

Matilda wrote:

There are and I found maybe a hundred clinics in India, that treat birds.
I put the list in the Matilda's list forum.

I can't vouch for any of them but at least it's a starting place.

That's wonderful.

That's exactly right. :Yes: And if someone needs help they can contact them and get the particulars.

Matilda wrote:

There are and I found maybe a hundred clinics in India, that treat birds. I put the list in the Matilda's list forum.
I can't vouch for any of them but at least it's a starting place.

Great idea!

Delhi's heat sucks. This summer i probably thought over a hundred times how the poor birds and animals in the northern parts of India would be managing The heat gets unbearable there touching over 45 degrees C sometimes which is 113 F :(

The monsoons have started here so probably there would be some respite.

Reading the article shows that there are atleast a few people who care for the poor birds though i would still want to stress that we are lacking way to far when it comes to getting proper treatment or compassion for birds. People just don't bother or care. There are probably just a handful who would think of doing anything and the vets don't care or have the necessary knowledge to deal with birds.

"According to Gaur, birds are a neglected community in India as they don't have separate vaccines."
Added to this, vets have no idea how to treat birds.

I am sorry i may be sounding too rude, but i get very very irritated and upset when i think about the life of birds and animals here and the type of treatment they get in the hands of people who wouldn't care less.

Most of the shelters here are rackets that indulge in money laundering. The way they treat animals and birds is pathetic. Me and my friends have seen rotting dead birds floating in ponds in these shelters. The staff wouldn't have cleaned them and other birds would be left in the same pond to die in a similar way. Kittens and pups don't make it and die horrible death because of the infection they get from unhealthy surroundings.

Added to this i would like to share a recent experience of mine.

There was this guy who contacted me regarding a dog he spotted outside the airport building. The poor dog had a very big tumor just below its mouth. It was huge and jutting below and obviously it was in a lot of pain and needed immediate attention. It couldn't eat and used to just sit there.

I told him i will contact CUPA and arrange for an ambulance. When i contacted CUPA, they said they had only one ambulance to cover the entire city and that there ambulance was out. So i asked them when they could spare it. They asked me to call the next day. I tried for 5 continuous days like this but everytime i was given the same answer.

I then decided that i would contact a private "pet logistics" company that i found on facebook. They had mentioned in their site that they arranged for pet transportations. So i called them up and asked them if they could spare a vehicle to get the poor dog transported. The answer they gave me shocked me beyond words. This is what they had to say:

Ma'am we dont have a vehicle of our own. We take the CUPA vehicle. They are on a tie up with us. If you are a member of our club paying xxxxxxxx Rs, we can arrange the CUPA vehicle. I slammed the phone down.

So this was the nexus...CUPA, which is supposed to help pick up needy animals and birds don't care. What are they doing? Getting paid money by a third party company who has a dealing with them to send this vehicle to their exclusive customers.
IT IS DISGUSTING

I then had no option left but to arrange a private vehicle but it was too late by then. When i contacted this guy who had told me about the dog, he said he could no longer spot it :(( I don't know what would have happened to it...praying it is atleast safe. If at all these idiots had arranged the vehicle on the same day, we could have probably saved its life.

And the 'ambulance' that they are talking about is not an ambulance. It is a battered old van that has a dog catcher and some ropes.

I am going to stop now. I feel i might explode.

Matilda wrote:

priya wrote:

Delhi's heat sucks. This summer i probably thought over a hundred times how the poor birds and animals in the northern parts of India would be managing The heat gets unbearable there touching over 45 degrees C sometimes which is 113 F :(

The monsoons have started here so probably there would be some respite.

Reading the article shows that there are atleast a few people who care for the poor birds though i would still want to stress that we are lacking way to far when it comes to getting proper treatment or compassion for birds. People just don't bother or care. There are probably just a handful who would think of doing anything and the vets don't care or have the necessary knowledge to deal with birds.

Actually, it's the same way here. Many people would just walk on by when they see an injured bird and think..nature taking her course.
Mosts vets here haven't a clue about birds.
"According to Gaur, birds are a neglected community in India as they don't have separate vaccines."

Added to this, vets have no idea how to treat birds.

Most vets here won't even look at a bird, let alone a pigeon. I cherish the ones that will and are knowledgeable. I think this is a global problem.
What is Gaur?
I am sorry i may be sounding too rude, but i get very very irritated and upset when i think about the life of birds and animals here and the type of treatment they get in the hands of people who wouldn't care less.

You don't sound rude at all... similar rant that I have made many times about my own city and the quality of care for birds... it's more like non-treatment.

Charis, Gaur is a name of a person. Probably some vet there.

priya wrote:

Delhi's heat sucks. This summer i probably thought over a hundred times how the poor birds and animals in the northern parts of India would be managing The heat gets unbearable there touching over 45 degrees C sometimes which is 113 F :(

The monsoons have started here so probably there would be some respite.

Reading the article shows that there are atleast a few people who care for the poor birds though i would still want to stress that we are lacking way to far when it comes to getting proper treatment or compassion for birds. People just don't bother or care. There are probably just a handful who would think of doing anything and the vets don't care or have the necessary knowledge to deal with birds.

"According to Gaur, birds are a neglected community in India as they don't have separate vaccines."
Added to this, vets have no idea how to treat birds.

I am sorry i may be sounding too rude, but i get very very irritated and upset when i think about the life of birds and animals here and the type of treatment they get in the hands of people who wouldn't care less.

I'm so sorry the heat is so bad there, Priya. 113 degrees isn't all that unusual for us during the summer, but then we are'used' to it, so to speak.
It's still so darn hard on all the pijjies, doves, etc.

What I've never been able to figure out is how the birds can stand and walk on the blistering pavement and not seem to be at all bothered.

You are by no means sounding rude.
Sadly that's a global issue.