Niali sheep deaths: WII experts’ team arrives to take stock of situation

Bhubaneswar: With the ‘mysterious killer’ behind the series of sheep deaths in several parts of Odisha, in particular Niali, still on the run, an expert team of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has arrived here to conduct an on-field assessment of the situation here.

The two member expert team of the WII arrived in Odisha and held discussions with Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) and other officials of the forest department.

Official sources said that the team is expected to visit affected parts in the State from where incidents of sheep deaths have been reported.

The team would conduct a comprehensive study on the pattern of killings, modus operandi of the mysterious animal and submit a report on measures that can be adopted to trap the animal.

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“The expert team will conduct the study for the next 3 to 4 days in different parts of the state including Niali and Bhanjanagar,” said DFO (City division) Prashant Mishra.

Mishra further informed that already preliminary data on the number of sheep deaths reported, GIS mapping, areas affected have been provided to the experts of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

Sources said, the first incident of sheep killing was reported from Khulisa village in Khurda in April while subsequently similar incidents were reported in Niali, Cuttack, Athgarh, Bhanjanagar, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara in the last three months.

“We will assess the situation after visiting the affected areas,” said a member of the expert team.