20 Peacocks Found Dead In Karnataka, Weeks After Tigress, 4 Cubs Died

Twenty peacocks - India's national bird - have been found dead in Karnataka's Hanumanthapura village. The carcasses of 20 peacocks - three male and 17 female - were found by farmers, scattered in farmland located beside a stream. The cause of the death is yet to be ascertained.

Upon learning about the unnatural death of peacocks, forest officials visited the spot and conducted an inspection. The carcasses have been sent to the Forensic Science Labs for tests to determine the cause of the death. A report is awaited.

This comes close on the heels of the unnatural death of 20 monkeys, a tigress and four cubs in the recent past.

On July 2, carcasses of 20 monkeys were recovered in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka on Wednesday. Forest and police officials suspect that the monkeys were poisoned.

The death of the national bird takes one back to June, when the sudden death of the national animal - a tigress and her four cubs in the Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary - left everyone shocked. The investigation revealed that the tigress and four cubs died after consuming a poisoned cow. 

The carcasses of the tigress and three cubs were discovered in the Meenyam forest area, within the Hoogyam range of the sanctuary.

According to sources, the tigress had killed a cow and dragged it into the forest. She and four of her cubs had partially consumed the meat. It is suspected that local villagers, upon finding the carcass of the cow, poisoned it. The tigress and cubs are believed to have returned to the kill and died after consuming the poisoned meat.