Mysore/Mysuru: An insensitively abandoned fishing net at Mandakalli Lake almost killed a Spot-Billed Pelican, a migratory bird, yesterday. 

Fortunately it was rescued and it flew away from the Lake and perched on a tree soon after being saved. 

Several Pelicans have come to the Lake and are roosting on the shady trees in the surroundings. One of the birds was caught in the mindlessly abandoned fishing nets by local population who use the water body to catch fish for sale. This Lake, located on the Mysuru-Nanjangud Highway, is the only water body in the vicinity that is a natural habitat. 

The nets were placed right in the middle of the Lake and people did not notice the bird that was entangled in it. The bird struggled to wriggle away from the nets for more than two hours and it had resigned to its fate, exhausted. 

Some passers-by, however, noticed the bird desperately flapping its wings unable to get out and informed Snake Shivakumar who rushed to the spot and plunged into waters. Despite a lot of efforts, Shivakumar was not able to free the bird. He sought the help from Fire and Emergency Services Department. 

The Department readily obliged and a team comprising lead Fire Officer Thammanna, K.T. Swamy, K.M. Anand, Manohar and Kumar took a boat along with Snake Shivakumar. They removed the nets by cutting open the lines and the bird was rescued. Realising that it has been freed, the bird flew and perched on a tree. 

People visiting lake bodies and around should be sensitive towards the Lake’s ecosystem, appealed the rescuers. 

Fishing nets being abandoned pose a grave danger to the lives of waterborne birds, they added.