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Hundreds flocked to the first-ever experiential vertebrate festival, ‘Haekki Benakku’, which began astatine the Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology astatine Puliyarmala adjacent Kalpetta successful Wayanad connected Friday (November 14, 2025).
Eminent ornithologists, vertebrate lovers, vertebrate watchers, quality enthusiasts, and greenish activists gathered astatine the venue. Activities for students included weaving nests, identifying vertebrate species, and interactive sessions connected vertebrate conservation.
T. Siddique, MLA, who inaugurated the festival, said birds played an important relation successful sustaining fragile ecosystems crossed the world. “The conception that quality beings are astatine the apical of everything successful quality has resulted successful wide destruction,” helium said, adding that birds are the existent saviours of nature. “Until the Mundakkai–Chooralmala landslide struck, nine had not fixed overmuch attraction to issues concerning nature, but the calamity changed everything,” helium said, stressing the request for biology awareness.
Principal Conservator of Forests Pramod G. Krishnan was the impermanent of honour. Kerala State Biodiversity Board Chairman N. Anilkumar delivered the keynote address. Hume Centre advisory committee president G. Balagopal presided.
The festival features a ‘Birder’s Stall’ that showcases details of assorted unsocial vertebrate species, methods for identifying them, their beingness patterns, the threats they face, and a wealthiness of bird-related information. A photography accumulation connected the birders of Wayanad is besides portion of the event.
Renowned ornithologists presented sessions connected ‘Global Ornithological History’ (C. Sasikumar, ornithologist and president of Humes); ‘A Brief History of Indian Ornithology’ (Dr. Pramod P., Senior Principal Scientist astatine the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History); ‘Bird Monitoring via Citizen Science successful India’ (Dr. Roshnath Ramesh, State Coordinator of the Heronry Surveys successful Kerala); and ‘Bird Monitoring via Citizen Science successful India’ (Ashwin Viswanathan, Research Associate astatine the Nature Conservation Foundation).
Cultural programmes, including Bavul euphony by Shanthi Priya and theatre performances, are portion of the festival. The lawsuit volition reason connected Sunday.
