Battered peacock
Raja Waidyasekera
Peacock, a conserved bird in Wildlife National Parks in Sri Lanka has
turned a high-valued delicacy which decorates the table tops of the
hotels of the Tissamaharama and Lunugamwehera District Secretariat
areas.
The peacocks that haunted the shrub jungles have now come to the
villages in search of water and food as a result of the prevailing
drought.
The poaching of peacocks goes unabated in these areas. There is a
rising demand for peacock flesh from star hotels in Hambantota. A kilo
of peacock flesh fetches Rs. 900 to Rs. 1,000.
Those arriving at Tissamaharama sylvan shrines and Lunugamwehera
National Park can witness flocks of peacock on either sides of the road.
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