Rare Himalayan vulture captured in Kanpur, could be years old said experts

A rare Himalayan Griffon Vulture created a lot of buzz on the Internet after locals from the Eidgah cemetery of Kanpur’s Colonelganj captured it. Later, they handed the bird over to the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department.

People of the village could not contain their excitement after the rare species was captured over the weekend. The youth of the village were also seen posing with the scavenger bird, stretch its wing to the fullest in order to show how big their capture is.

कानपुर के ईदगाह कब्रिस्तान में एक सफेद हिमालयन गिद्ध मिला है, जिसे पुलिस के हवाले कर दिया गया है. इस गिद्ध के पंख लगभग पांच-पांच फीट के हैं. अनुमान लगाया जा रहा है कि इस गिद्ध की उम्र सैकड़ों वर्ष है @NavbharatTimes pic.twitter.com/JV56stY5mt

— NBT Uttar Pradesh (@UPNBT) January 8, 2023

As per experts, with a wing span of over ‘6-feet’ the Griffon Vulture is one the biggest bird species found in the Himalayas.

“Himalayan Griffon vultures are now nearly threatened. They are called ecosystem engineers,” says Indian Forest Service officer Praveen Kaswan in one of his tweets last year when he rehabilitated one of the rare birds. Praveen took a look at the visuals shared on Twitter also by ANI and confirmed that the bird looks like a Himalayan Griffon Vulture. “Sub-adults are migratory, adults live on higher reaches. They can live upto 40-45 years of age,” said the officer.

It is to be noted that the large wingspan of these vultures helps them soar high in the sky searching for carcasses on the ground. According to the studies, by feeding on the carcasses, vultures prevent diseases from spreading to humans. A Himalayan Griffon Vulture in attack mode is a sight to behold as it raises its plume to give itself a “magnificent garuda” look as is seen in several photographs.

As per the locals of the Kanpur Eidgah, who played with the rare species, they were lucky to capture the bird because it was with less energy as it appeared subdued. There was hardly any counter from the bird as the people around pulled at its magnificent wings or cajoled it as a baby in their arms.

Experts say that the Himalayan Griffon Vultures are seen in Terai and adjoining areas in winter.

Mohd. Safiq, a local from the village, said to ANI, “The vulture we finally managed to capture had been here for a week. We tried to catch it but didn’t succeed. Finally, we captured it when it came down.”

The excited youngster said that he often heard of fewer vulture left in the country hence, wondered if there is a prize money announced for capturing vultures.
Safiq said, “We handed over the vulture to the Forest Department in the presence of the police.”

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