The Stork Sisters: How A Grassroots Army Is Saving Assam’s Most Misunderstood Bird

In Assam, the greater adjutant stork, known locally as the hargila, or 'bone swallower', was once a common sight. But over time, it became a bird that people wanted to forget. Its towering frame and scavenger lifestyle earned it a reputation as an unwelcome presence; a bad omen; something to be driven away. Nests were destroyed, trees were felled, and wetlands were drained. What was once a thriving population dwindled to the point of crisis, leaving the hargila teetering on the edge of extinction.

The decline was not just about superstition or aesthetics. Assam’s rapid urbanisation erased much of the stork’s natural habitat. With nesting trees cut down and wetlands replaced by roads and settlements, the hargila was forced closer to human habitation, feeding at garbage dumps and slaughterhouse scraps. This only deepened people’s distaste for the bird, and with its nesting sites vanishing, its numbers plummeted.

However, Purnima Devi Barman, a wildlife biologist by training, saw something others didn’t: a bird not to be shunned, but to be protected. But she knew that conservation could not succeed without the support of the very people who had come to see the stork as a nuisance. And so, she turned to the women of the villages where the last of the storks remained.

Barman formed the Hargila Army, an all-women grassroots movement dedicated to protecting the stork. These women, once indifferent or even hostile to the bird, became its fiercest defenders. They started by safeguarding nesting trees, ensuring that no one cut them down. They rescued fallen chicks, nurtured them back to health, even threw baby showers for the newborn storks inspired by Assamese traditions and released them back into the wild. They planted new trees, creating future nesting sites. And perhaps most crucially, they rewrote the narrative around the bird, weaving it into the fabric of local culture.

The movement spread beyond just conservation. The women of the Hargila Army began incorporating the stork into their traditions, celebrating it rather than shunning it. They introduced its image into textiles, crafted paper-mâché stork hats, and even performed songs and dances inspired by it. They basically led a successful rebranding campaign for the stork and a life-saving one at that. What was once a bird that symbolised ill omens became a symbol of pride, community, and resilience.

Hargila Army's efforts have had a tangible impact. The greater adjutant stork’s population in Assam has grown significantly, with over 1,800 individuals recorded in 2023. Where villagers once saw a pest, they now see a part of their heritage. Barman’s work has earned her international recognition, including the Whitley Gold Award and the UNEP Champions of the Earth honour. But more than awards, her success lies in the fact that the hargila, once unwanted, is now protected by the very people who once sought to drive it away.

The story of the greater adjutant stork is one about power of community and conservation. But more than that, it challenges the very way we define worth and existence. The stork is not here to fit our aesthetic preferences or superstitions. Its autonomy and its right to simply be exists outside of how we perceive it. By saving the hargila, these women have redefined belonging, proving that every being, no matter how misunderstood, has a place in this world.

Follow Purnima here.

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