Panic after bats found dead in Gorakhpur

GORAKHPUR: A large number of bats found dead near trees triggered panic among people in Gorakhpur’s Belghat area on Tuesday morning.
Since the outbreak of global pandemic due to novel coronavirus, studies have suggested that bats are natural reservoir of a range of coronaviruses.
Panic set in among villagers who turned apprehensive about deaths of over 50 bats and novel coronavirus spread and they quickly informed police and forest officials.
Pankaj Shahi, a resident of Belghat area, said, “Today in the morning, I noticed numerous bats lying dead under one of the mango trees in my orchard and was intrigued. I informed my elders and others.”
Residents: Bats could have died due to excessive heat
There is another orchard of one Dhruv Narayan Shahi adjacent to mine. There is a very old Baheda (medicinal) tree in his orchard and bats use to live on it since a very long time.
However, few months ago the leaves of that tree started falling, so many bats shifted to mango tree,” he added.
“We informed forest department and they took a number of dead bats to be sent for tests and told us to keep water in the garden saying the bats could have died due to excessive heat. A brick kiln is also near the garden,” said Pankaj.
Khajni forest ranger Devendra Kumar reached the spot on getting the information and said, “The bodies of bats are being sent for tests. Prima facie, it appears that the bats died due to excessive heat and lack of water as ponds and lakes in the area have dried up.”
DFO Avinash Kumar said the reason for the death of bats would be known only after the test report comes.
“We got information about bats lying dead near Swami Satsang Bhawan in Belghat area.”
He further added, “The Khajini forest ranger inspected the spot immediately with animal husbandry officer and found 52 bats dead. The bodies are being sent to Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly for tests.”
“The reason for death of bats in large numbers together behind the death would be clear only when the report comes. Prima facie, it seems the bats died either due to excessive heat or disproportionate use of pesticides on fruit trees.”
In Video:Panic grips after many bats found dead in UP’s Gorakhpur