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Diwali is a Hindu festival of lights, celebrated with fireworks.

My closest friend on Facebook shared this picture on my wall:

enter image description here

Happy Diwali

Thousands of birds, dogs & other animals die out of shock, fear & accidents during Diwali. Spare a thought for the creatures who cannot speak up.

Please do not use loud and explosive firecrackers this Diwali.
Every Diwali.

Are fireworks from the festival of Diwali killing thousands of birds, dogs and other animals?

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Ujwal Krishnan
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  • I found some "near miss" studies, that don't answer the question, but might help another researcher: (1) [Fireworks impact roosting magpie numbers](https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/isspar/38/1/article-p27.xml) in Poland - it doesn't mean they died, but they didn't hang around. – Oddthinking Nov 09 '18 at 04:23
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    (2) [Birds flee en mass from New Year’s Eve fireworks](https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/22/6/1173/218852) in the Netherlands. "Although we do not expect fireworks to be directly lethal to birds, confounding factors, such as disorientation, or flying in inclement weather normally avoided could potentially result in mortality." but they discuss other events that *might* have caused fatalities. – Oddthinking Nov 09 '18 at 04:25
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    As the image capture says, fireworks rarely kill birds *directly* (because of the explosion), buth rather they are scared, fly away blindly and, if the weather conditions aren't good, they may get killed. See https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=18&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjb2Lr2_cbeAhWh4IUKHSAHC_cQFjARegQIAxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Farticle%2Fus-arkansas-birds%2Farkansas-bird-deaths-blamed-on-fireworks-idUSTRE70563X20110106&usg=AOvVaw2-JMNXfHnPB7UEIXhW30hJ – Rekesoft Nov 09 '18 at 09:23
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    Is it necessary to limit the question to Diwali? –  Nov 09 '18 at 09:37
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    @JanDoggen: I'd think so. Firework regulations vary greatly between countries. Even when it comes to India, there are some parts of the country that have strikter regulations than others. For instance, in 2009 Bengal banned ["chocolate bombs"](http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/govt-wants-banned-crackers-out-of-bengal-before-new-year-celebrations/549399/) due to their excessive noise. – Schmuddi Nov 09 '18 at 10:05
  • @JanDoggen: It is a tricky question. I think it would be more interesting if the question was about fireworks in general, but the claim is specific to Diwali. I would like to see a more generalised answer if possible, but also one that shows the effect is big enough to match the "thousands" claim (if true) – Oddthinking Nov 09 '18 at 11:56
  • People shoot fireworks over the lakes where I live. I've always wondered about the immediate and lasting impact on the aquatic life. –  Nov 09 '18 at 16:09
  • Related sister site post [What can I do to ease my dogs' fear of loud noises?](https://pets.stackexchange.com/questions/38/what-can-i-do-to-ease-my-dogs-fear-of-loud-noises) – James Jenkins Nov 09 '18 at 17:12
  • In the UK diwali is celebrated it is however around the same time as guy fawkes day so we get fireworks over a greater period. So for a UK based answer it is not just diwali – mmmmmm Nov 09 '18 at 20:20

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