Bhubaneswar: After its failure to trace the unidentified animal(s) indulging in a spate of killing sheep in Niali in Cuttack district, the state Forest department has decided to take the support of a team of wildlife experts from Dehradun.
Forest and Environment Minister Bijayshree Routray Wednesday told reporters that the mysterious killer of the sheep is yet to be identified properly. A team of wildlife experts from Dehradun will be called in to examine the incident and suggest ways to trace the killer, the minister said.
Notably, an 18-member special team from Similipal National Park, headed by Baripada DFO Sanjay Kumar Swain, had gone to Niali to trace the killer(s) unsuccessfully. Meanwhile, unknown creature(s) killed four sheep in Badasahi in Mayurbhanj district Tuesday night. Four sheep had also been killed in Tigiria in Cuttack district the same night, adding to the bewilderment of forest officials.
In a related development, activists of Lulusena (an outfit floated by late Congress leader Lulu Mohapatra) Wednesday demonstrated in front of the tehsil office at Niali demanding compensation for sheep farmers.
Hundreds of protestors led by Lulusena general secretary Rajendra Prasad Panda took out a rally from Niali police station Square and reached the tehsil office via the local market. The protestors alleged that the farmers had reared sheep by taking loans from cooperative society and local money lenders, but the mass killing of sheep by unknown creatures for the past three months has deteriorated their financial condition.
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