Jackal causing trouble on runway caught

 Authorities at the Biju Patnaik Airport in Odisha capital Bhubaneswar have managed to capture a wild jackal which had been creating problems onthe runway.

The animal has been handed over to the forest department officials for its release into the wild.

Sources in the airport said, “the menace created by the jackal forced the authorities to set up an iron trap near the runway and on Tuesday morning the animal was found caught inside the trap”.

Officials in the Chandaka forest division on the outskirts of the city here confirmed that the airport authorities had handed over the wild animal to them. “We have received the jackal. It will remain in our custody for the next few hours. We will release the animal in the forests after sunset”, said an official in the Chandaka forest division.

Experts, however, believe that the jackal menace in the city airport which has already been accorded the status of an international airport is far from over as the areas in and around the airport continue to be home to many wild jackals.

Not only problems from wild jackals, the city airport has also been affected by bird menace in the last few years.

The issue was discussed many times at meetings between the airport authorities and the state government officials and after one such meeting a few months back the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had cleared the localities around the airport of meat vendors. The meat shops in the residential areas surrounding the airport were attracting birds to the area.