Jodhpur4 hours ago
A vulture from Spain was airlifted to reunite with his family. This vulture of the Cinereus species was separated from its family five and a half years ago due to the cyclone in Kanyakumari. The forest department team made a plan and first transported it from Kanyakumari to Chennai, then from there to Machia Safari Park in Jodhpur.
The vulture was brought to Jodhpur at 2 pm on Thursday. It was kept hungry for about 12 hours’ journey. Earlier, the road route was planned to shift this vulture from Kanyakumari to Jodhpur (about 2600 km), but the danger was felt in the trial held a month ago. In such a situation, a plan was made to airlift. In Jodhpur also, survey will be done before leaving it among their species.
Read- How the campaign went on to reunite a vulture with the family
In 2017, a flock of vultures of Cinereus species that came from Spain reached Kanyakumari, due to cyclone this vulture could not fly. After this it was kept in Udayagiri Park. Meanwhile, research was done that which place is favorable for this in the country. Turns out that Jodhpur is the best for this. Not only this, many vultures of cinereous species come here in Jodhpur, after which a plan was made to bring it here.
Jodhpur was chosen because it can easily fly here
According to experts, the Vulture needs a heat wave to fly. Due to the cold area in the south, the effect of hot winds is negligible there. In such a situation, Vulture was not able to fly. When the team of ecologists from the Wildlife Institute of India Dehradun did research, it was found that such an area can be found in western Rajasthan or Gujarat, where it can easily fly even in winter.
Had to come by road first, then brought by flight
The vulture was taken care of by the Udayagiri Park team. It was planned that it would be taken to Jodhpur by road. For this, it was first brought in a car traveling 707 km from Kanyakumari to Chennai, but the team came to know that the vulture started having traveling stress.
While doing research while traveling in the car till Chennai, it came to the fore that it would be difficult to stay in a closed box for 4 days. With this it is not even possible to keep it hungry for so many days. Apart from this, the threat to the vulture had also increased. Therefore, the plan changed at the last moment and a plan was made to bring airlift from Chennai to Jodhpur.
The team will do research for two days, after that it will leave
The team of Tamil Nadu Forest Department has also come with this vulture. It also includes DFO, Veterinary Officer and Care Taker from Tamil Nadu Forest Department. Gyan Prakash, Veterinary Doctor of Machia told that this team will survey the dumping yard built in Keru near Jodhpur on Friday. It will be ascertained whether vultures of this species are coming here or not. After this, the same team will research this entire area for two days.
It is being told that if 25 to 30 vultures are found of this species, then it will also be released there, otherwise they will find another place or wait for several days. It will be kept under the supervision of expert team for a few days at Machia Park in Jodhpur. So that it can adapt itself to the climate of Jodhpur.
Migratory vultures come every year
Head of the Department of Environmental Science, Maharaja Ganga Singh University of Bikaner, Prof. Anil Chhangani says that vultures of Cinereus, Himalayan Griffon and Eurasian species come to India by traveling long distances during the winter season. These vultures usually reach here by flying from Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Spain and some other countries.
Many times their presence has been recorded even in Sri Lanka and Thailand. In such a situation, it is not a big deal that this vulture of Cinereus species reached Kanyakumari. Usually these vultures fly in groups, it may be that this vulture was left behind due to injury. With the help of people in time, it reached the right place and its treatment could be done.
the number is continuously decreasing
Professor Anil Changani told that their number is decreasing rapidly. Till date, vultures have never been properly enumerated in the country. As such, all claims are based on conjecture. Of course, the natural habitat of vultures is gradually decreasing all over the country. This has an effect on the vulture population.
The condition of vultures in Rajasthan cannot be said to be very good. Pro. Chhangani says that the natural habitat of vultures is being destroyed rapidly. Most of the losses have been caused by mining. The hills of the mountain got lost due to mining. Vultures used to breed in these mountains only. Nevertheless, a sufficient number of vultures continue to be seen here.
He said that at present no project of vulture conservation is going on in Rajasthan. For this Prof. Chhangani has sent proposals to the state and central government, but no response has been received so far. Mainly Egyptian, log-billed, white-backed and Raj vultures are found in Rajasthan. Apart from this, migratory vultures keep coming here.
