Akhtar Hussain tosses fish into small ponds as four injured storks walk around him. Hussain feeds these four storks, unable to return to the wild, inside Bhagalpur’s Forest Division Office compound, where a structure of blue netting stands as a sanctuary for the Greater Adjutant Stork, locally known as the Garuda. The center has ten individual compounds for injured storks and two ponds.
Garudas, when healed, are released into the wild floodplains of Kadwa Diara, almost 25 km from the centre, along the River Ganga’s banks. But these four– one is blind, another electrocuted, and two fell from nests— will remain in the compound till the end of their lives. “These birds can’t fly again,” he said, watching the blind stork peck at its meal. “So, I’ll care for them as long as they live.”
Back in the 1980s, Hussain used to trap and hunt hundreds of birds daily with nets, nooses, and glue. He sold them in markets from Darbhanga to Kolkata. Inside the blue-netted rehabilitation center, he works daily to atone for it. “Jo pehle galti kiye hai, uska ab bharpaai kar rahe hai (Now we’re making up for the wrong we did earlier),” he said.
Hussain grew up in Manjhaul village, 150 km from Bhagalpur, in Bihar’s Begusarai district and learned bird-catching of birds like Common Whistling Duck, Cotton Teal, Red Jungle Fowl, and Bar-headed Goose, among others, from his father, Mohammed Isshaq. Akhtar’s grandfather was in the same trade and supplied feathers to British elites and wealthy families, mainly for ornate hats and dresses. “These birds were our roji roti,” Hussain said.
The Garuda’s global population is 1,360 to 1,510, with three major breeding grounds: Cambodia and the Indian states of Assam and Bihar. In Bihar, over 600 Garuda now thrive in Bhagalpur’s Kadwa Diara, a significant increase from 78 in 2007. Hussain gleefully said that he spotted Garuda before “it was officially documented here [Bhagalpur].”
Once on the brink of extinction, even in small pockets like Bhagalpur, where locals such as Hussain once contributed to their decline, the Garuda storks began a cautious recovery thanks to dedicated community action and conservation efforts. Hussain’s transformation from a poacher to a protector, working with his family at a government-backed rescue center, reflects the hopeful resurgence of these endangered birds and himself.
Garuda Storks
The Greater Adjutant Stork, one of 20 species worldwide, or Garuda, is a bird of stark contradictions. Often labelled as a “dirty, smelly bird” due to its scavenging habits, it is sacred in Hindu mythology. In the Ramayana, Garuda’s presence liberated Rama and Lakshmana from the serpentine bonds of Ravan’s son Indrajit.
Known as “friends of the farmer,” these scavengers feed on fish, rodents, snakes, and even carrion, cleaning ecosystems and controlling pest populations. Their distinctive gular pouch serves dual purposes: it stores food and attracts mates to breed. Weighing up to 12 kilograms, the Garuda lays 2 to 3 eggs per season, with nests often collapsing under the combined weight of adults and chicks, which can total nearly 40 kilograms.
The Garuda population dramatically declined across South and Southeast Asia, from once in the hundreds of thousands in the 1800s. The 19th-century records indicate widespread killing, primarily for their meat and feathers. In Bhagalpur, the Garuda faces competition from painted storks for nesting sites on Kadamb and Semal trees. Another reason is poisoning.“This big bird, with its pouch for storing food and attracting mates, thrives in the Gangetic plains, but poisoning is a real risk,” Dr. Anil Kumar, Scientist-E at the Zoological Survey of India’s Gangetic Plains Regional Centre in Patna, explained. Farmers and fishermen use pesticides, which fish and rats consume. Eventually, the stork too ingests toxic chemicals. There are campaigns to educate farmers and fishermen about pesticide dangers.
Isshaq, Hussain’s father, was a well-known birdcatcher in his region. At eight years of age, Hussain started accompanying his father. “I used to get excited to go on hunting trips. It was full of adventure.”
When the ornithologist Salim Ali, with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), needed an assistant, he chose Isshaq. Isshaq went to Bombay and assisted Salim Ali in catching birds, fitting tracking rings, and releasing them as part of Ali’s research.
Several years later, in 1985, a new team from BNHS visited Bihar. This time, Isshaq suggested his son’s name. So, at 17, Hussain left home, first for Purnea, then Bharatpur, and finally Bombay. “BNHS experts taught me why it is important to save birds. It was then that I put a full stop to hunting. I never hunted any bird after that,” said Hussain.
Later, at Aligarh Muslim University, he worked under the foremost ornithologist, Asad Rahmani. In 2014, a group of BNHS experts called Hussain to Bhagalpur. Back then, he earned just 200 to 400 rupees for each rescue. The Bihar government’s support, in 2015, helped build the Sundervan rescue centre. It was completed in 2016 and welcomed its first birds in 2017. Hussain works here now. Training programs by the BNHS help locals monitor nests and provide primary treatment, turning villagers into stewards of the Garuda. Rani Devi, a local, said, “Learning about Garuda changed our perception of these birds. Now, I teach my kids to watch for them, to call the helpline if they’re hurt.”
The forest department’s initiatives in Bhagalpur, like safety nets under nesting trees to catch falling chicks and eggs, have reduced fatalities. And planting Kadamb and Semal trees ensures suitable nesting habitats. Her team’s advocacy saved 18 nests when a proposed road threatened nesting trees, realigning the route to protect the storks’ homes. “Those trees are their sanctuary,” Forest Division Officer Sweta Kumari, posted in the district since January 2024, said.
“Their nests often collapse, and dogs take the chicks. Safety nets and tree-planting initiatives help, but the stork’s low reproductive rate and 12–13-year lifespan mean every loss stings,” Arvind Mishra, a key conservationist, said.
“Conservation is about people as much as birds,” she said. New technologies, such as GPS trackers to monitor movements, are being tested; however, funding remains limited. “We learn with every bird we save,” Sweta added.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List classified the species as endangered until 2023, when it was downlisted to near threatened, largely due to Bhagalpur’s success. Yet, its protection under Schedule IV of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, reminds us of its ongoing vulnerability.
“When I look at these birds, I see my past and future,” Hussain said, his eyes fixed on a stork stretching its wings in the netted enclosure. “I was lost, but they showed me the way.” His Muslim faith contrasts Garuda’s Hindu significance, yet he finds no conflict. “A life is a life,” he said. “Saving them is my prayer.”
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