Barn owl faces threat of extinction in india as well as other parts of world.
The information sources from Wildlife Protection Society of India - New delhi is gathering more information. a study conducted by Maharaja Sayajirao University Baroda has revealed what he says is a uniform pattern of unnatural injuries that point to intentional twisting and breaking of wings.
"These injuries appear to have been deliberately inflicted by human hands," said Ranjitsinh Devkar, assistant professor of avian biology at the M S University. In a collaborative study with the Gujarat forest department and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Devkar detected 30 birds in the city of Baroda, each one of them with a serious injury to a single wing.
The dates of rescue overlapped with the Indian lunar calender. Nineteen of the 30 injured owls were picked up within three days of a new moon. This, he said, is a strong indicator that the injuries had to do with black magic practices.
Jathar, who has completed a doctorate in spotted forest owlets, recalled that he had observed owl wings and legs for sale in tribal fairs. His socio-economic study had suggested that 73 per cent of a sample of tribal people at Nandurbar in Maharastra believe that "owls feed on human souls".
"There's a widespread superstition here that killing a young owl boosts fertility," Jathar told The Telegraph news [paper.
In one tribal fair in a hill station called Toranmal in Maharashtra, he had observed a woman selling owl legs for Rs 100 a pair, and the dry body of an eagle owl for Rs 350.
