Jodhpur/Chennai: A stray cinereous vulture, rehabilitated for 5 years in Tamil Nadu, was airlifted to Machia Biological Park in Rajasthan's Jodhpur on Thursday afternoon and will be released into the park for rewilding after a few days of a precautionary quarantine, officials said.
The vulture was rescued during the Ockhi cyclone in 2017 by the Nagercoil forest department officials. Later, it was taken to Udayagiri Bio-diveristy Park in Kanniyakumari, where it was kept in care for the last five years.
According to officials, initially, it was decided to bring the bird to Machia Biological Park, 2300 km away by road but considering the fact this long journey might have an adverse effect on the health of the bird it was airlifted from Chennai and brought to Jodhpur by an Air India flight.
The bird was brought in a special cage to Jodhpur and was accompanied by the DFO of Kanyakumari who handed over the cinereous vulture to the Machia Biological Park management. “The vulture will be kept in quarantine for a few days as a precautionary measure and then it will be released,” Assistant Conservator of Forests of Machia Park, K K Vyas said.
“If the vulture is completely healthy, it will be sent with the arrival of the group of its species in the coming days. The cinereous species of vultures are called Eurasia species in Europe and Asia,” Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) of Machia Park Sandeep Chelani said.
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Now the officials hope that in the coming time when groups of cinereous vultures come to Jodhpur, then an attempt will be made to connect it with them. “It will be released with a group of vultures of the same species arriving in Jodhpur from Mongolia these days so that it can return to its native habitat,” an official said.
Wildlife officials accompanying the vulture say that it was found in an injured condition in Kanyakumari town about 5 years ago and was treated. Wounded, it strayed away from its flock during migration when the Ockhi cyclone in December 2017 pounded Tamil Nadu. As a reminder, the winged visitor was named after the cyclone as 'Ockhi'.
"Sharing the heartwarming real-life story of a beautiful vulture "Okhi" & his incredible journey from Tamil Nadu to Rajasthan."Okhi", a migratory Cinereous vulture was injured in Okhi Cyclone in 2017 and could not fly back. Our Okhi flew @airindiain early morning today for rewilding (sic)," Tamil Nadu Forest Secretary Supriya Sahu wrote on Twitter.
"In Rajasthan, there are number of cattle carcass dumping sites that support large populations of vultures. One such site is the “Keru” cattle carcass dumping site 20 km from Jodhpur town. The Keru site is ideal for the release of the captive vulture not only because of the presence of other Cinereous vultures but also because of ready availability of food. After acclimatization, Ockhi can then be deployed with the transmitter and released at the Keru site," a forest official from Tamil Nadu said.
Cinereous vultures
Vultures of this species originally come to India in the month of October via Uzbekistan, Mongolia through Portugal, France. It is the heaviest flying vulture among its peers. The female vulture in this species weighs between seven and 14 kg. While the maximum weight of the mail is 11.5 kg. The length is 98 to 120 centimetres.
Their wingspan is up to three meters and are generally seen at 2,600 to 12,500 feet in hilly areas. They were even spotted at 14,800 feet in the plains and one was spotted at 22 thousand 870 feet on Mount Everest. Their maximum age is 35 years. When it is winter in Europe, it usually spends its breeding time in Manchuria, Mongolia and Korea. Their habitat is hilly and mountainous region with forests.
