FB post on crow: Forest officers rescue bird

Forest department officials swung into action after a Facebook post on offering services of a crow for “Uttarakriye” (funeral rites) went viral.

They raided the house of one Prashanth in Kaup and rescued the crow in his possession on Saturday.

In a Facebook post, Prashanth, a tailor, had offered the services of the crow for Uttarakriye ritual performed by the Hindus after the death of a person.

Prashanth by offering the services of crow intended to benefit from the belief of Hindus that the food untouched by crows indicated that the dead were not appeased with the rituals.

However, animal rights’ activists irked by the post had filed a complaint with the forest department.

Three fledglings

Forest officials told DH that Prashanth had found three fledgling of the crow fallen on the ground three months ago.

He took them and begun looking after the chicks. Owing to injury sustained during the fall, two chicks had died.

Prashanth blamed a friend who had informed him that crow population had declined and there was a need for crows during Uttarakriye rituals. Soon he posted a message on Facebook asking people to contact him for the services of the crow.

The post which went viral was criticised by animal lovers.

The forest department officials released the crow in a forest at Pilar.

Prashanth said that he had genuinely taken care of the crow without any malafide intent.

“I did not have any bad intention of making money. The Facebook post had created all the problem. One of the wings of the chick has not healed and it cannot fly properly,” he said.