The swab samples of the dead peacocks will be sent to National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal. A team of district forest officials will visit Bhopal today afternoon with the samples.
Notably, carcasses of as many as 20 peacocks were recovered from Madhupur village forest area in Khurda district on Tuesday. Forest officials said they spotted dead peacocks at a distance of seven to eight feet from the forest. Villages suspect that this could be handiwork of poachers.