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Total and abrupt elimination of a population of Egyptian Vultures (Neophron percnopterus) on Delhi - Agra highway in India

2013; Progressive Sustainable Developers Nepal; Volume: 8; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3126/ijls.v8i1.8084

2091-0525

Rohtash Chand Gupta, Tarsem Kumar Kaushik,

Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation

The present work is to highlight the threats being faced by the Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus (Linnaeus, 1758) in its original area including Mathura district. An isolated population of Egyptian Vultures was seen in 2007-08 spread over an area of 20-30 Kilometers home range. Actually, scores of Egyptian vultures were seen airborne gyrating in the skies at low height on the outskirts of Mathura city towards Delhi. Astonishingly, in 2008, another group of 40-50 Egyptian Vultures was seen feeding on 2-3 carcasses of Cattle on left hand side of Agra-Delhi National highway in September, 2008 towards Delhi. However, a visit in April, 2011 revealed a fatal fact, as all these birds of this population were certainly eclipsed in a short span of 3-4 years. Neither the airborne group nor the “Kosi-Kalan” village road side group was traceable. So much so, not a single bird could be sighted. In conclusion, it is boldly inferred over here that Egyptian Vultures are already in the brink of near extinctions as of in 2013, only one bird was traced on Mathura-Agra Highway.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijls.v8i1.8084