Himalayan griffon vulture gets new lease of life in Goa

Keri: The Himalayan griffon vulture found injured at Tervan-Medhe in Maharashtra got a new lease of life in Goa after receiving necessary treatment.Pravin Gawas of Tervan-Medhe found the injured vulture on the roadside in his village and informed Dodamarg forest officials.

Suhas Patil, range forest officer of Dodamarg, later handed over the bird to Amritsing, president of the Animal Rescue Squad, Bicholim, for medical care.Speaking to TOI, he said, “An old world vulture native to the Himalayas and adjoining regions, it is a near threatened species on the IUCN Red List and a magnificent bird of prey.”Wildlifer Charan Desai said that after medical treatment, the Himalayan griffon vulture’s condition improved and it was found relishing food.A juvenile Himalayan griffon vulture was earlier spotted and photographed at Cacoda in South Goa in Feb 2016 by birders of the Goa Bird Conservation Network during migration. The species has also been recorded in the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve and other parts of Maharashtra.Ornithologists believe that during winter migration, the vulture may have lost its way and ended up in the forested Tervan-Medhe area of the Tillari river basin.