Chandigarh, June 2 (IANS) Worried over their falling numbers, the Punjab government has initiated a peacock breeding project.
‘The government is quite concerned about the ill-effects of insecticides and pesticides on peacocks. Therefore we have started a special peacock breeding project in Malwa region to check their depleting numbers,’ Forest and Wildlife Minister Arunesh Shakir said Thursday.
‘Due to increasing urbanization and use of pesticides, the number of peacocks in Mansa, Bathinda, Muktsar, Moga, Ferozepur and Sangrur has gone down drastically,’ he said.
‘This is a centrally sponsored project and is aimed at increasing their number,’ he added.
Under the project, eggs of peacocks would be collected from Chatbir zoo in Mohali district and from the Tiger safari in Ludhiana district.
‘These eggs would be bred under scientific supervision at the Beehar pond in Bathinda. Later, healthy peacocks would be released in Malwa Belt,’ said Shakir.
