Incidences of mortality of Indian peafowl Pavo cristatus, the national bird (Schedule I Indian Wild Life Protection Act 1972), are rampant in India. Between January 2011 and March 2017, around 550 peafowl in 35 incidences were reported dead across the country. Due to the non-availability of fresh carcases,
poisoning could not be confirmed. Birds which died due to kite string
injuries in Ahmedabad (15) and accidents in Coimbatore (5) were tested for residues of chlorinated pesticides, namely
hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), dichloro-
diphenyl-trichloroethane (
DDT),
endosulfan,
heptachlor,
dicofol,
dieldrin and cholipyrifos. The liver, kidney and muscle were the tissues considered to document
pesticide load. Total load ranged from BDL to 388.2 ng/g.
DDT (95%) and HCH (80%) were detected more frequently.
DDT (40%) and
endosulfan (26%) contributed maximum to the total
pesticide load followed by HCH (21%).
Pesticide accumulation pattern among the organs was in the order of liver (123.9 ng/g) > kidney (91.9 ng/g) > muscle (19.5 ng/g) with significant difference (p < 0.05). Peafowl from Ahmedabad had significantly (p < 0.05) higher level of total
pesticide (149.0 ng/g) than birds from Coimbatore (47.8 ng/g). Although varying levels of chlorinated
pesticide were detected, they were below reported toxic limits. Nevertheless, persistence of chlorinated pesticides and
poisoning due to modern pesticides across the entire distribution range of Peafowl in India is a cause for concern.