Kendrapada: An injured Himalayan griffon vulture, an endangered species, was rescued by forest officials from Angelei village in Kendrapada district on Sunday.
A farmer, Ganeswar Sahoo, sighted the rare bird on his land and informed forest officials.
“After rescuing the endangered juvenile Himalayan griffon vulture, we provided proper treatment at the veterinary hospital in Marsaghai and released it in the nearby mangrove forest at Jamboo village. Many locals gathered to watch the rare bird,” said forest range officer of Kendrapada, Rajendra Kumar Samantray.
During winter, Himalayan griffon vultures also migrate to other areas like other birds. Vultures are natural scavengers that feed on animal carcasses. It is listed as ‘near threatened’ on the IUCN Red List,” added the forest officer.
Last year, a Himalayan griffon vulture was sighted near a chromite mine at Kaliapani under Sukinda forest range in Jajpur district.
Nandankanan zoo in Bhubaneswar is among the six participating zoos for conservation breeding of vultures identified by Central Zoo Authority (CZA). A conservation breeding centre for vultures was constructed during 2011-12 in an off-exhibit area of Nandankanan over an area of 0.3 acres surrounded by about seven acres of forests with financial assistance from CZA.