08 April,2021 07:20 AM IST | Mumbai | Ranjeet Jadhav
The picture of one of the birds taken by a nature lover
In A sighting that once again highlights the rich biodiversity of birds found at the Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Vasai, a pair of the endangered Indian Vulture (Long-billed Vulture - Gyps indicus) was spotted by volunteers involved in the Mumbai Cha Waghoba project.
A member of the team associated with the project photographed one of them at TWS. The team was lucky to spot the pair of Indian Vulture on March 31, at around 12pm from Pelhar view point, TWS. A bird expert confirmed it was a pair of Indian Vultures.
According to the nature lover who did not wish to be named, the vultures were gliding from the top of a cliff towards Pelhar dam. But the pair was far away and he managed to photograph one individual, but the image is a bit blurred.
Talking to mid-day a team member said, "I do feel pretty lucky and happy as well to have spotted vultures in this region. It's a good sign that some wild populations of these birds managed to escape the deadly population crash caused by diclofenac in the early 1990s. Hopefully their numbers will start increasing again in these areas."
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Talking to mid-day, Range Forest Officer Rajendra Pawar said, "The sighting of Indian Vultures at TWS is a very good thing as it also highlights the importance of the rich bird biodiversity this sanctuary has."
According to the website Indiabiodiversity.org the Indian Vulture is critically endangered and on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. According to the website, the most serious threat to this species is by kidney failure through consumption of cattle treated with the anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac. Ketoprofen, another veterinary drug in use in India, has also been recently identified as being lethal to this bird species. Possible threats include changes in human consumption and processing of dead livestock, leading to lack of food for these vultures, avian malaria and poisoning.
