Owls hit hardest on festival of kites

The kite-flying activity on Makar Sankranti this year proved to be as much a nightmare as last year’s for the birds, with more than three dozen birds of different species being admitted to the Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals at Parel on the day.

Most of the birds brought in had sustained injuries to their wings and necks due to sharp manja used for flying  kites on the festival. If that was not all, bird lovers across the city received equal number of panic calls, with callers requesting them to rescue injured birds.

“While this year was no different than the last few years, the only major difference was a strikingly large number of owls being reported injured due to the deadly manja. For a first, five owls were admitted in our hospital and all were injured due to manja. This was for the first time that so many owls were brought in here on a single day,” said Lt Col (Dr) JC Khanna, secretary, Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Khanna added that apart from the injured owls, around seven kites, one koyal, two crows and 15 pigeons were also admitted to the hospital. “Most of these birds had cuts on their wings. There are few injured ones who need greater care and will be kept in the hospital for more than one week,” he said.

Sunish Subramaniam of Plant and Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) - Mumbai on Sunday received around eight calls from areas between Thane and Powai, with callers asking him to arrange for rescue of the pigeons. “In this month alone, our team has rescued two kites, one sparrow, one owl and 12 pigeons, who all were injured by manja,” he said, adding that his team has been providing the hurt birds with first aid.