Wildlife lovers irked over postcard errors

BHUBANESWAR: Wildlife enthusiasts and bird lovers have raised objections over wrong information about some bird varieties of Mangalajodi printed on special postcards inaugurated by the Eastern India Philatelists' Association (EIPA) recently.

They alleged the mistakes had been overlooked by state forest and environment minister Bijayshree Routray, a philatelist himself, who released the postcards.

Of the eight postcards on migratory birds, four were local varieties. The flamingo was called a vulture, the purple moorhen a domestic hen, spot billed duck a domestic duck, the white bellied sea eagle was described as a black kite and the whiskered tern called a blue rock pigeon.

"These are major blunders. It is strange that a responsible association like EIPA has made such errors as these postcards are aimed at wide circulation and they will give a bad impression about Odisha. These are all very common birds of Chilika and that the minister overlooked these mistakes is surprising," said wildlife expert Biswajeet Mohanty.

Bird lovers also demanded immediate withdrawal of the postcards and reissue of the cards with corrections.

Ajit Kumar Dash of EIPA, however, admitted to the blunder and said they would rectify the mistakes. "Actually the postcards were prepared very hurriedly and by persons without much knowledge of birds. That is why the mistakes were made. We have stopped the circulation of these cards immediately after the errors came to our notice. We will reprint them with corrections."