India's endangered hargila, formerly thought to be a bird of bad luck, now has a horde of defenders. It is starting to recover now.
Purnima Devi Barman, a biologist, was at Dadara village, on the banks of the powerful Brahmaputra River in the northeastern state of Assam, on a sunny, hot January afternoon in 2007. She was surrounded by emerald marshes and tropical evergreen trees, but all she could focus on was the enormous devastation she was seeing.
One of the tallest and most exquisite trees she had ever seen—a local kind of evergreen called a kadamba—had just been chopped down by the people. Large birds with black and white feathers, long limbs, and sharp beaks were now lying dead on the ground among the tree's fallen branches, strewn leaves, twigs, and thatches of nesting material.
They were greater adjutant storks, a unique and endangered species of bird found in Assam.
Barman had taken up a baby bird and hugged it to her chest, and some of the chicks were still alive. She recalls, "I could sense its sorrow and suffering, and I could feel its heart pounding." She was profoundly impacted by the baby bird's agony as a mother of young twins.
Barman was pursuing a PhD in animal conservation at the time, with a focus on storks. However, she was aware that what she had just seen would alter the trajectory of her career. She states that she felt compelled to do something more than simply watch these birds. "They required assistance."
Greater adjutant storks are unusual birds, known locally as the hargila (or "bone-swallower") for their scavenging habits. Standing at about five feet (1.5 meters) tall, they are not only impressive but also essential to preserving the wellbeing of a wetland habitat. They stop the spread of disease and decompose decomposing organic debris, recycling vital nutrients back into the soil as scavengers that eat and clean up carcasses.
These birds, which were once common throughout Asia, are now restricted to areas of Cambodia and the northern Indian states of Assam and Bihar. Their number has been negatively harmed by human persecution, such as hunting and egg collection, as well as the loss of their nests and wetland habitats. The bird is listed as Near Threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
For many years, Assamese peasants viewed storks as an annoyance and a sign of misfortune. They were despised, feared, and hunted in some areas for their meat, which was once frequently employed in traditional medicine as a poison counteractant or leprosy remedy. The situation was exacerbated by the storks' unsightly droppings and their tendency to nest on private land.
If not for a group of local women, now numbering 20,000, who stepped onto the scene and changed the storks' fate, these obstacles together could have caused greater adjutant storks to die out entirely. Even though it is still a species of concern, consistent care and conservation efforts have given rise to hope and quantifiable success. The IUCN estimates that there are approximately 1,800 of these birds in Assam, up from 450 in 2007. They have been observed in eight different locations of the state.
The Hargila Army is 100% female.
Barman, who is from the Kamrup district of Assam, decided to do a thorough study of the habits of the greater adjutant stork for her dissertation research in order to notice how they contribute to the preservation of the wetlands' health. However, she realized that there was much more to be done than just science after learning how despised, feared, and endangered the birds were.
Her goal was to alter the hargila's reputation as a terrifying animal. She began with an image makeover in order to foster empathy for the birds; she spoke well of them and emphasized that they were not ill-omened.
But she was aware that she needed help. She started visiting villages and homes in 2007, the same year she witnessed the cutting down of the Kadamba tree, to talk to the local women. Barman encouraged them to consider how they would feel if the hargila received the same treatment as their own children. Her cool-headed logic resonated with many.
Women have demonstrated their ability to defend anything when they band together, according to Purnima Devi Barman.
The 35-year-old mother of two girls, Pratima Kalita Rajbongshi, recalls a period when the locals would congregate and hurl stones at the birds. When her second child was six months old in 2009, she went to a meeting that Barman had set up.
She was deeply impacted by what they talked about. "Purnima madam claimed that as we tend to our ailing children, we torment the bird and its young. That was all I could think of. I made the decision to actively join the Hargila Army on that day.
At baby showers, which are customary Assamese rituals that serve as a prayer for a pregnant woman's health and long life, members of the Hargila Army put birds. At these festivities, women started dancing in homemade bird costumes, the massive beak of the hargila looming over their heads. Soon, the birds came to represent these happy times.
