A bird census was recently done in Chilika Lake by the Odisha Wildlife Organization.
Highlights:
Chilika Development Authority and Bombay Natural HISTORY Society have joined the organization.
Chilika is the world’s largest brackish lake. Birds migrate to the lake for the winter.
A total of 106 people were involved in the survey. Bird experts from both non-governmental and government groups were present.
To conduct the census, the lake was split into 21 sections. Inside Chilika Lake is the Nalabana Bird Sanctuary.
In the Nalabana sanctuary, 3,58,889 birds were sighted. In comparison to the previous census, the number of birds in the reserve has reduced by 65,000.
The low count was caused by the high water level in the lake and its environs. Waterbirds love to congregate in muddy areas.