Kaziranga, 24 April 2020:Wildlife Trust of India’s veterinarians are currently nursing eleven vultures afflicted by secondary poisoning from Sibsagar district of Assam. These vultures were spotted at Dichagmukh area, suspected to have fed on a poisoned animal carcass on the banks of Brahmaputra of which 19 birds were already dead.

First responders from Assam Forest Department and wildlife workers from BNHS working in the vicinity reached the spot on the 22^nd of April and shifted thirteen surviving vultures to the forest facility at Sibsagar, where they were kept under observation for 24 hours. The forest department decided to shift them to the WTI-IFAW- Assam Forest Department run Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) at Kaziranga the following day.

Two of the thirteen surviving vultures brought to CWRC were critical condition and didn’t survive (one slender billed and one white backed vulture).  Dr Samshul Ali, the WTI veterinarian observed, “Secondary poisoning led to vulture deaths and remains a very critical issue. We are losing these threatened and critically endangered species, also known as nature’s cleaners.  We tried our level best to stabilise the two seriously ill birds, but they succumbed in the early hours today. Right now, eleven birds are under care. We are hopeful of their recovery.”

Dr. Samshul is assisted by Dr Madhurjya Bikas Borah, veterinarian, Ramen Das and Raju Kutum, animal keepers of CWRC. They have under their care seven Himalayan Griffons (Near Threatened), one White-Backed and three Slender Billed Vultures (both listed as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List.

Cases of secondary vulture poisoning in Assam continue to occur periodically and our veterinarians have successfully treated and released vultures around the same time in previous years: read about the cases in March 2019 and in April 2018.

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