BHOPAL: About a dozen monkeys were found dead in Harnia village of Betul district on Friday. As forest officials kept squabbling over jurisdiction area of forest circles, some animals devoured the dead monkeys.
Bodies of monkeys were found near a river in Harnia village under Shahpur forest range. Such deaths are reported every summer as lot of animals die in want of water. Residents of Harnia village informed that wild dogs had fed on about four monkeys. The leftovers remained on the spot.
Forest officials didn’t reach the spot till filing of the news report. Villagers say the monkeys either died of thirst or could have been electrocuted.
DFO, North Forest Range, Puneet Goyal said that the incident has occurred in the western range. They have been informed of about it, he added.
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Another forest official from Shahpur range said that it isn’t a matter of jurisdiction as forest belongs to all and assured of looking into the matter. However, later he said that the area didn’t fall under his jurisdiction.
Last week death of bats in large numbers was also reported from western mandal of Chincholi range in Betul district. Bodies of bats were found in Behdadhana village in Bhimpur block. The villagers there say that bats have been dying for past several days in large numbers.
A team from veterinary department had visited the spot and concluded that the bats had died of dehydration- allaying fear of any unknown disease.
