Rama Krishna Sangem
BRS Rajya Sabha MP and Green India Challenge founder J Santosh Kumar this Sunday, January 20, clicked a female Koel, also called in Telugu Kokila on X. This is part of his #WeekendPhotography campaign started two years ago. Santosh, as an MP and individual, has been campaigning hard for conserving nature, protecting wildlife and environment over six years.
His posts on X in the morning got 2,631 views and 138 likes and 52 reposts by evening. This shows the continued following the GIC founder’s posts on the social media. What caught the attention of the four photos this week is his camera work – the Koel is captured from the lower and side angles. The bird sitting pretty on a tree branch is seen with a fruit inits nose – so lovely catch!.
Asian Koel, endangered
Santosh’s click of this week is an asian female koel – a scaly bodied bird. Usually, the male ones are in greenish dark, while the females are like this. Interestingly, Koel or Kokila is an important bird in our culture and literature. Known for its mellifluous “kukoo” sounds, we compare whoever with sweet voice as a Kokila. There are thousands of poems and songs on this bird’s sweet voice.
Still, Koel now faces threat to its survival, though they are efficient parasites. Mostly populated in tropical Asian regions, Koel is hunted down in some parts of these countries. They are poached and traded as pets too. Once seen in large numbers, Koel is now on the extinction in Sri Lanka and other east asian countries. We hope, the efforts of Santosh and his GIC team in underscoring the vulnerability of wildlife would awaken people to protect them.
