Shahjahanpur (UP), Dec 20 (IANS): Three peacocks were found dead while one was found in an unconscious state in a dry pond at a village in the Banda area of Shahjahanpur district in the past 24 hours.

There were no injury marks on the birds and forest officials said that they may have died due to the on-going cold wave in the region where temperatures are hovering around 5-6 degrees Celsius.

A probe has been ordered since peacock is the national bird and comes under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, that pertains to species that need rigorous protection.

Shahjahanpur's divisional forest officer (DFO) Adarsh Kumar said, "There has been a sudden dip in temperature since Saturday morning and this, perhaps, led to the birds' deaths. Two of them were peahens. One peacock was provided treatment by veterinarians and later released into its habitat."

The DFO said, "Our team carried out an initial investigation and there was no foul play. But we still registered a case under the sections of Wildlife Protection Act for our records and have started our own probe. The carcasses have been sent for autopsy which will be carried out by a panel of experts at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI).