Campaign to rescue injured birds during the Sankranti festival

Sankranti brings with it colourful kites. However, the kite-flying ritual can turn deadly for birds during the festival. Every year several birds get entangled in the manja left behind after the festival, leading to severe wounds, nerve injuries, mutilation of wings or death in many cases.

To help the feathery creatures, Greater Hyderabad Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GHSPCA) along with People For Animals (PFA) is organising a campaign to rescue injured birds during the festival. The campaign, which starts on January 10, will run till the end of the month.

“Each year we receive several calls from volunteers and other animal rescuers about birds that have been injured due to the manja,” shares Soudharm Bhandari, Animal Welfare Officer and Coordinator



GHSPCA.

He adds, “In 2021, we rescued about 86 birds, including pigeons, owls, crows and even eagles, treated them and released again. After getting an injured bird, we keep them with a volunteer for a day and once we see they are fine, we release them. However, in a few cases, one or both wings of the bird is entangled for days. For such cases we have a shelter in Nagole.”

Explaining how these manjas are deadly for the birds, Soudharm says, “The traditional manja, which is coated with powdered glass, is very sharp and can cut through the birds’ skin. However, these manjas degrade with time. It is the Chinese manjas, made of nylon, that stay for long and can cut the wings deeply or even strangle the bird. Hence, we advise people to either bury or burn the leftover manja after they have enjoyed flying kites.”