Pong Dam gets 43,500 winged visitors

Dinesh Kanwar

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Hamirpur, November 21

With the fall of winter, the international Ramsar wetland, Pong Dam, is witnessing the arrival of migratory birds. As many as 43,500 winged guests have already made their way to the dam site.

Subhash Prashar, Divisional Forest Officer (wildlife), said the department had completed the first round of counting of migratory birds and so far 43,500 birds had flocked to the Pong Dam Wetland.

The species that arrived to the dam site are bar-headed geese (15,686), common coots (4,400), common teals (6,400), little cormorants (2,526), Northern pintail (5,308), Northern lapwing, ruddy shelduck, spot-billed duck, red-necked grebe, black-headed gulls, plovers, black stork, terns, water fowls, Pochards and woolly-necked storks.

With the arrival of these migratory birds, poachers also become active in the area. As thousands of migratory birds from Siberia and Central Asia descend on the Pong dam, their safety becomes the priority for the Wildlife Department. The officer said poaching during winter remains a matter of concern and the department had constituted vigilance committees to keep an eye on activities of poachers.