Quarrying work halted to let rare rock eagle owl hatch eggs in Vikarabad

In an environment-friendly gesture, quarrying has been stopped for about a month at a stone quarry in Vikarabad district in Telangana to let a rock eagle owl, a rare bird, hatch its eggs.

The Telangana forest department quickly swung into action after being alerted by wildlife photographers and conservationists about the presence of the bird and the eggs.

Vikarabad District Forest Officer Gnaneswar said on Thursday that wildlife photographer Manoj Kumar Vittapu, who visited the grassland at Yenkathala in



Vikarabad about six days ago, informed the Telangana’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) C Suvarna about the presence of the rock eagle owl and its five eggs.

The PCCF asked the Vikarabad district forest officials to quickly take safety measures.

The forest department personnel who reached the site informed the stone crushing unit owner Laxma Reddy about the presence of rare bird species and the eggs, he said.

The unit owner agreed not to disturb the bird till the hatchlings fly.