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In Context
- About 100 Himalayan griffon vultures have died of suspected poisoning in Assam.
Image Courtesy:TH
About Himalayan Griffon Vulture
- Scientific Name: Gyps himalayensis
- It is a rare and largest bird native to the Himalayas
- Habitat:
- It lives mainly in the higher regions of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau at the elevation of above 1500 metres.
- This species is distributed from western China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, east through the Himalayan mountain range in India, Nepal and Bhutan, to central China and Mongolia.
- Description:
- This is a huge vulture and the adult is sandy brown with a pale, featherless head. When in flight, the bird has black primaries and a small-headed, squared-winged appearance.
- Usually seen singly or in small groups; gathers in large flocks at a carcass
- Threats:
- The most serious potential threat to this species is thought to be mortality caused through ingestion of diclofenac and other vulture-toxic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) widely used in livestock, particularly in South Asia.
- Conservation status :
- The vulture is listed as “Near Threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
- The species is covered by a Multi-species Action Plan (MsAP) for the conservation of African-Eurasian vultures and by national Action Plans in India , Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia .
Source:TH
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