Different storks
Once loathed as a social menace and a bird of ill omen, the greater adjutant stork has changed the fortunes of a few villages in Assam and Bihar, thanks to the efforts of two wildlife biologists who have educated the locals about this endangered species and the need to conserve them.
Published :
Jan 22, 2022 00:00
IST
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The greater adjutant stork (Leptoptilos dubius). ▲
A muster of adjutant storks perched in a tree in Dadara village, Assam. ▲
The landfill area of Badagaon in Guwahati has the highest density of adjutant storks in Assam. ▲
Greater adjutant storks, which are natural scavengers, gather at landfills in Assam to forage for food. ▲
The greater adjutant stork forages for fish. ▲
Purnima Devi Barman with a stork chick rescued at Dadara village on February 4, 2017.
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A meeting of the Hargila army in progress in Guwahati, on February 4, 2017.
Photo: Anupam Nath
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The Hargila army regularly conducts awareness programmes.
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A biodiversity class conducted by the Hargila army for the local community of women.
Photo: Chandan Bora
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Community dance programmes are organised by the Hargila army to involve and empower the women in the Dadara village, Assam. ▲
Arvind Mishra along with volunteers of the Mandar Nature Club, Bhagalpur. ▲
Volunteers of the Mandar Nature Club, Bhagalpur. ▲
Motifs of the greater adjutant stork on handloom sarees, an initiative of the Hargila army. ▲
Motifs of the greater adjutant stork on cloth bags, an initiative of the Hargila army. ▲
Schoolchildren in Dadara are sensitised through awareness programmes about the greater adjutant storks that nest in their village. ▲
Schoolchildren observe a statue of the greater adjutant stork in the local school in Dadara. ▲
The Hargila Learning and Conservation Centre, inaugurated at the Pacharia Kushal Konwar High School, Pacharia, Assam, on March 24, 2021. ▲
Purnima Devi Burman receives the Nari Shakti Puraskar from the President of India in 2017.
Photo: Gopalsingh-rawat
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Purnima Devi Burman received the Whitley Award, considered “the green Oscar”, from the Whitley Fund for Nature, U.K., in 2017.
Photo: James Finlay
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