Global News - January 2008

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Festival kite-flying kills hundreds of birds

Fri 18 January 2008 13:50 UK — Asia,Birds

A kite-flying activity, that is part of an annual festival in India, has come under fire from bird lovers after hundreds of pigeons were killed during the event.

The five-day Sankranti festival, which takes place in the area surrounding the city of Hyderabad, has killed more than 350 birds and injured as many as a thousand more, the Calcutta Telegraph reported.

Bird experts and animal welfare groups blamed the Chinese thread used with many kites for this year's particularly high death toll.

"The glass-cured threads used for flying the kites have had a deadly impact on the pigeons who were soft targets as they were slow to escape," Mahesh Agrawal, a member of the Animal Welfare Board of India, told the Telegraph.

Actress and animal lover Amala added: "While the birds received cut injuries from the threads, the shining kites frightened and blinded them, making them plunge below in shock."

As many as 50 volunteers have been enlisted to help save as many injured pigeons as possible.

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