Number of birds in Odisha’s Bhitarkanika National Park has gone up by 9,252 this year compared to last year, the officials said. A divisional forest officer, Bikash Ranjan Das, of Rajnagar said this year a total of 97,866 birds from 10 species were counted in the park, an increase of 9,252 from last year.

When compared with the numbers of nests in the last year, the number of nests too went to 21,185, an increase of 1,959.

‘The nests were found in Mathadiha inside the national park and Laxmiprasad Diha and Durga Prasad Diha which are located outside the park. This year the most identified species is Gendalia (open billed stork),’ said Das as reported by The Hindustan Times.

The officials have said that the availability of ample food and good weather conditions are the reasons for the increase in the number of birds this year. Birds like Kaparkhai, Anjana, Rani Baga, Panikua, Gendalia and Khaira are some of the species that throng Bhitarkanika during monsoon.

These birds build nests in Guan, Bani and Kerua trees. Every monsoon, two teams with five forest staff each carry out the bird census as local birds as well as migratory birds from other states arrive here in thousands and return home by the end of October with their babies.

Migratory birds from other countries would start arriving by November, said the DFO of Bhitarkanika national park. It is also the second-largest viable mangrove ecosystem in India. There are a total of eight species of kingfishers found in the park.

Also Read: Gujarat: Armed Guards Provided For Threatened Lesbian Couple After Court Order