Not only humans are dying during the India heatwave.
Nope! also birds and even monkeys drop dead from the sky.
At least 184 people have died in India’s Bihar as the state remains in the midst of a punishing heatwave that’s affecting much of the country, bringing with it droughts and hundreds of cases of heatstroke.
The country is experiencing its lowest rainfall before monsoon season in over six decades and is in its third week of a heatwave, set to become one of the longest on record.
The majority of the recorded deaths in Bihar since June 15 have occurred in Aurangabad, Gaya, and Nawada, where temperatures have been around 45 degrees Celsius. At least 562 patients have been admitted to government hospitals with heatstroke, and officials fear the death toll will continue to rise.
The true death toll may never be fully known as some heat-related deaths could not be officially confirmed.
The severe heatwave also decimates birds, with hundreds of people reporting birds dropping from the sky. “If conditions are good, birds can negotiate temperature up to 46°C. If rest places and shade are missing, they die of exhaustion,” the official says.
On June 8, 2019, a troop of 15 monkeys had died of heatstroke in Madhya Pradesh state after temperatures reached 46°C. Forest officers believed that the monkeys had fought with a rival troop over access to a water source but lost the fight eventually.
This reminds me that National Park officials of Namibia have to auctioned their wild animals because of the severe drought.
[Hindustan Times, Al Jazeera, The Hindu, India Today, RT]
