Poisoned Himalayan Griffon Vulture rehabilitated

A Himalayan Griffon vulture, poisoned a month ago, was treated, rehabilitated and released in the wild by the 'Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation' in Assam's Sibsagar district today.
The bird was released along with another rehabilitated vulture from CWRC at Bam Rajabari village in the district following an awareness programme in the presence of stake-holders, release issued by IFAW-WTI run CWRC said.
On January 23 last, 50 endangered vultures were poisoned in this village and this solitary bird was rescued from the brink of death by CWRC's Mobile Veterinary Service (MVS) unit.
"We were shocked to find 19 White backed vultures, three Slender billed vultures and 29 Himalayan Griffons dead at the site due to acute poisoning", CWRC MVS veterinarian Dr Biswajit Boruah said.

The solitary surviving vulture was shifted after preliminary treatment at the rescue centre in Kaziranga.
With treatment and rehabilitation at CWRC, the vulture recovered well in three weeks and was able to behave normally, following which a decision was taken to release the bird back in the wild by the CWRC team.

The public awareness meeting included officials of the Assam Forest Department, IFAW-WTI team from CWRC, Bam Rajabari Village Committee, Village Defence Party and the villagers.
Sibsagar Assistant Conservator of Forest S C Gogoi said, "We are very happy that at least one vulture has been saved and sent back to its home range".

The death of some other vultures had been caused due to some ill-informed individuals who had poisoned a cattle carcass.
CWRC,the rescue and rehabilitation centre near Kaziranga National Park, is run by International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).