Rare slender-billed vulture sighted in Terai

Lakhimpur (UP), Feb 9 (PTI) A slender-billed vulture, which is on the verge of extinction, has been sighted by ornithologists in Terai area of Kheri. Apart from slender-billed vulture, white-backed vultures, Eurasian Griffin and Hundya Griffin vultures have been found in Dhakherwa region of the district, Vijay Prakash Singh, convener of Terai Nature Conservation Society and member of UP state wildlife board, said. Slender-billed vultures are critically endangered vulture species. The sightings have enthused vulture conservationists engaged in making the Terai region diclofenac-free zone, the drug held responsible for mass casualties of vultures. The vultures were sighted during a field-survey on vultures by a team of UK-based Royal Society for Birds’ Protection (RSBP), Bombay Natural and History Society (BNHS) and TNCS experts. The team is headed by RSBP conservationist Tobby Heath Gelligan and Ananya Mukherjee from England. BNHS experts Janki Teli and Manas along with TNCS convenor Vijay Parakash Singh are assisting in the survey. "Indiscriminate application of diclofenac drug for veterinary medication has left the vultures on the verge of extinction," Singh noted. "The vultures inadvertently take in excessive doses of diclofenac while feeding on carcasses resulting in renal failure," he said. Singh said that RSBP has undertaken the assignment to make entire Terai-region diclofenac free zone. PTI CORR AVA PG
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