The 'hargila' was destined to die.Shot by poachers, it was left on the ground to be eaten by cats and dogs. ..However, a bird enthusiast Jahurul Islam's prompt actions saved the endangered bird
An endangered Greater Adjutant Stork (locally referred to as Hargila) which was rescued by a team from biodiversity organisation Aaranyak in November last year, was released into the wilderness on May 14.
Greater adjutants, reviled as bad omens, were endangered until Indian conservationist Purnima Devi Barman transformed attitudes to the bird – and gave thousands of women a new identity
Barman has won the award in the ‘Entrepreneurial Vision’ category for her work with local communities to conserve the greater adjutant stork, an endangered wetland bird, in Assam.
The hargila, one of the largest storks in the world, is threatened with extinction. A group of female Indian activists want to prevent that - with weaving, music and dance. They’ve founded the ‘Hargila Army’ to further their cause.
Floods. Landslides. Environmental degradation. Pollution. It all adds up to a story of disappearing land, displaced lives and destroyed livelihoods along the Brahmaputra