Avian
populations, once abundant in the nation, have been dwindling due to
urbanization and use of pesticides. Moreover, with this year bringing
India’s hottest March and April in a century, with May temperatures
often exceeding 45 degrees Celsius, an alarming number of birds have
been succumbing to heatstroke.
In the city of Delhi alone, where
vultures, doves and sparrows are already facing extinction, some 300
birds have been treated daily for sunstroke, at least 70 of whom are
seen each day at the long-established Charity Birds Hospital.
Meanwhile,
in neighboring Uttar Pradesh, the state forest department reported the
tragic finding of 150 peacocks who perished in the summer heat.
Officials there are now working to refill parched water bodies and
implement other local preventive measures.
Our earnest thanks,
Charity Birds Hospital and all officials, organizations, and personnel
working to save avian co-inhabitants imperiled by the intense heat.
With
our prayers for their revival to flourishing health, let us swiftly
join in meaningful actions to restore the Earth’s balance for the
benefit of all beings. As part of her tireless efforts to ensure our
planetary welfare, Supreme Master Ching Hai has often addressed the
perilous situation of our animal co-inhabitants, as in this August 2009
videoconference in Thailand.
Supreme Master Ching Hai: Our
animal friends are suffering terribly due to the effects of global
warming. Many of the animals are dying or at the brink of extinction or
already gone due to unbearable temperatures or they are being forced out
of their habitats.
Birds of all kinds in every corner of the
globe are also imperiled. According to the World Wildlife Fund, some
bird populations declined by up to 90%. Some already disappeared.
With
the expected 2-degree C temperature rise, bird extinction rates could
reach 38% in Europe, and 72% in Northeast Australia. We have lost so
many innocents already.
But the animals know exactly what is
happening without a word. They know that the solution lies not so much
in words but in daily actions, and the essential change that will be the
most restorative for our world is to be vegan.
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/heat-preys-on-delhi-birds_100372684.htmlhttp://www.ndtv.com/news/india/dead-peacocks-pile-up-in-uttar-pradesh-29526.php