Wildlife experts visit Sultanpur sanctuary

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New Delhi, July 19 (IBNS) Reacting to media reports, an inquiry team, comprising wildlife experts from the central Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), recently inspected Gurgaon's Sultanpur National Park and Bird Sanctuary.

The drying up of the lake in the bird sanctuary last month reportedly led to the death of animal and aquatic life, including African black fish.

“We sent our team,” said a senior MoEF official. “As part of the ministry's probe to verify if it was the alleged mismanagement.“ The team was to find whether the mismanagement on part of the sanctuary authorities led to the drying of the lake and the consequent death of fish and other life forms."

“The team will submit its report within two weeks,” he said.

Two senior officials, who supervise the bird sanctuary, Haryana's Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Parvez Ahmed and Wildlife Inspector Shahid Khan, confirmed the visit of the MoEF team, but refused to comment.

Apart from being home to 250 species of birds - 90 of them migratory - the 359-acre of national park and bird sanctuary is home to blue bulls, black bucks and jackals.

The management has made sure the black fish do not enter the waters of Sultanpur jheel ever again.

“We have completed the project to install nets, to plug supply pipelines bringing water from Western Yamuna canal, to stop the intrusion of African black fish in the Sultanpur lake again. The fish had come in from the canal and is not a local species,” said Khan.