Tamil Nadu farmer held for poisoning peafowl for destroying crops in Ramanathapuram

Ramanathapuram: Forest Range officials on Monday (December 30) arrested a farmer for poisoning several peafowls to death after the birds destroyed the paddy crop in his fields at Mudunal village, Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu.

Based on a tipoff, forest personnel, led by range officer S Sathish, visited the village and found many peafowls dead. 

After a preliminary investigation, the officials arrested the farmer, T Gopi (48), under the Wildlife Protection Act which was protected under Schedule I (Part III) of the Act. 

The farmer had allegedly mixed an insecticide with food grains and kept them at different places in the fields. However, the farmer claimed that he kept the insecticide-mixed foodgrains to kill rats, which destroyed the crop, but the officials refused to buy his theory.