Endangered vulture rescued in Odisha capital; released into wild

Bhubaneswar: While human race is battling to contain novel coronavirus that has paralysed entire world, it’s time for wildlife lovers to watch and capture activities of speechless innocent creatures through lens.

In course of experiment on animal kingdom, which is full of absolute wonderment, a few locals recently spotted an endangered species of vulture in a human habitat near Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

With help of members of ‘Grow with Nature’, an organisation active in research particularly in wildlife and wetland ecology, the locals rescued the rare bird of prey popularly known as ‘Egyptian vulture’.

“The endangered Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) was spotted in Bhubaneswar Smart City area near Kalinga Stadium on April 30. It was rescued on May 1 and handed over to Bhubaneswar Forest Division for medical check-up following which the vulture was released into Chandaka Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary on May 5,” informed wildlife researcher Gayatri Devi, who is the Founder and Chairman of Grow with Nature.

The Egyptian vulture is one of nine kinds of rare vultures found in India. Though, it is not seen in Odisha mostly, this vulture variant was spotted in some places in Ganjam district during 2013 and 2016. At a time the vultures are on the verge of extinction in India, a thorough research is need of an hour to explore more about vultures and conditions for their safety following rescue of such a rare type of vulture in heart of the city in Bhubaneswar, she said.