In an environment-friendly gesture, quarrying has been stopped for about a month at a stone quarry in Vikarabad district in Telangana to let a rock eagle owl, a rare bird, hatch its eggs.

The Telangana forest department swung into action after being alerted by wildlife photographers and conservationists about the presence of the bird and the eggs.

Vikarabad District Forest Officer Gnaneswar told PTI on Thursday that wildlife photographer Manoj Kumar Vittapu, who visited the grassland at Yenkathala in Vikarabad about six days ago, informed the Telangana's Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) C Suvarna about the presence of the rock eagle owl and its five eggs.

The PCCF asked the Vikarabad district forest officials to quickly take safety measures.

The forest department personnel

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