16 peacocks found dead in orchards in UP

Pratapgarh (UP), June 3 (IANS) Sixteen peacocks were found dead in the mango and gooseberry orchards in Baijalpur village in Pratapgarh district.Panic gripped the area as soon as the birds were found dead on Wednesday evening.Initially one peacock was found dead and the villagers immediately informed the forest department. A team of forest officials arrived and took away the dead peacock.Hours later, 15 more peacocks were found dead in the orchards.According to the divisional forest officer (DFO) Varun Kumar Singh, the post-mortem of the first peacock that was found dead on Wednesday, has been done. The cause of death in his report was pneumonia.The post-mortem is being carried out on the bodies of the other peacocks found dead to ascertain the cause of death.
--IANS amita/rs