Lakhimpur

Kheri, April 9 (HS): Dudhwa Tiger Reserve authorities have set their hopes on

the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly, to determine the

precise cause of death of 25 vultures, whose corpses were retrieved from a farm

within the Bhira range of the Dudhwa buffer zone. On Tuesday, vulture carcasses

were discovered, which are protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act

and classified as severely endangered birds.

According

to deputy director Kirti Chaudhary of the Dudhwa buffer zone, 25 vultures

(presumed to be largely Himalayan Griffin species) were discovered dead in an

agricultural field in Semarai hamlet, which is part of the buffer zone. She

said that five more vultures were discovered unconscious in the field and

treated quickly before being released once they were deemed fit to fly.

According

to Chaudhary, the remains of a few dogs were also retrieved from the same area,

albeit some distance away. She stated that vultures were thought to have

perished after eating the remains. She stated that a panel of veterinary doctors,

including Dr Daya Shankar from Dudhwa, Dr Ankur, and Dr Rajendra Singh,

performed the postmortem on 23 dead vultures, and that the carcasses of two of

them, as well as the viscera of 23 vultures, were sent to IVRI in Bareilly for

further investigation and analysis, as directed by DTR field director and chief

conservator of forest Dr H Rajamohan.

However,

the postmortem failed to determine the specific nature of the poison contained

in the corpses, but it was discovered that the vultures perished after

ingesting the remnants of dog carcasses obtained from the same location. Dr.

Daya Shankar, a member of the postmortem team, stated that the postmortem found

that the dogs' corpses contained some deadly material.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi