Clear carcasses of crows before cats get to them

Around 7 a.m., on January 10, when I went on a stroll at the park at Indira Nagar Fourth Cross Street, I saw carcasses of two crows. I am not alone: for nearly two weeks now, residents from various parts of the city, notably Indira Nagar, Sashtri Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, Velachery and Neelankarai are reporting crow deaths in their neck of the woods.

What I find additionally disturbing is the sight of severed crow wings this morning at this park as well as at a road in the neighbourhood on an earlier day. At the park, I found severed crow wings in a few places.

On First Avenue in Indira Nagar, the sight of a severed crow wing had greeted me. It is likely a cat had fed upon a dead crow; that is probably the case at the park as well. Usually, when cats capture and kill a bird, they leave the wings behind as it is difficult to ingest them.

According to newspaper reports, TANUVAS has carried out post-mortem on the carcasses of these crows and have come up with specific findings about changes in the specific body parts of the crows, particularly kidneys and spleen. Further studies are going to be conducted elsewhere to ascertain the causal factors for the sudden, unexplained deaths.

While that is going on, I would request local civic authorities to have their eyes peeled for crow deaths and clear the carcasses without any delay. 

I am a layman, but I do understand the dangers of biomagnification. While we wait for a conclusive word on what is causing crows to drop dead in this disturbing manner, we would do well to ensure whatever it is in their system that is causing this is not transferred to other creatures. I therefore request that the carcasses be cleared before cats or dogs get to them. 

(C. Namachivayam who wrote this article for The Hindu Downtown is a resident of Indira Nagar)