The vulture, a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act and listed as a critically endangered bird, was spotted on Tuesday.
Kirti Chaudhary, deputy director of the Dudwa buffer zone, said that the carcasses of 25 vultures (presumably mostly Himalayan griffons) were found in a farmland in Semarai village under the Dudwa buffer zone.
She added that five other vultures were found in a comatose state in the wild and were immediately treated before being released after they were found to be able to fly.
Chaudhry told PTI that the bodies of several dogs were also found on the same land not far away. She added that the vultures were suspected to have died after eating the carcasses.
She said that a veterinary team consisting of Dr Daya Shankar, Dr Ankur and Dr Rajendra Singh from Dudhwa conducted post-mortem examinations of 23 dead vultures and the carcasses of two of them along with the internal organs of 23 vultures were sent to IVRI Bareilly for further investigation and analysis on the instructions of Dr H Rajamohan, DTR Field Director and Chief Conservator of Forests.
However, a post-mortem examination failed to identify the exact nature of the poison found in the carcass, although it was found that the vulture died after eating the remains of a dog carcass found at the same site.
Dr Daya Shankar, a member of the autopsy team, told PTI that the autopsy initially showed that the dog’s body contained some toxic substance.
