Himalayan vulture at Point Calimere after 12-year gap

Himalayan vulture at Point Calimere after 12-year gap

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Trichy:  15.12.2020

The Himalayan griffon vulture, a migratory bird native to the Himalayas, has been spotted at the Point Calimere wildlife sanctuary after a gap of 12 years, said forest officials. There are forest department records of this bird being spotted in 1964 in the central region while Biodiversity Conservation Foundation founder director A Kumaraguru said that the bird was last spotted in 2008 at Point Calimere.

The bird was spotted near Thambusamy Illam – a forest guest house ravaged by cyclone Gaja two years back. The forest officer who spotted the bird took pictures with his phone while it was perching on a manilkara hexandra tree. The migration of this bird is unique as it belongs to high altitude and has come down to sea level.

Terming it a rare sighting, S Ramasubramanian, conservator of forest (Thanjavur circle), said people may not believe that the bird was spotted in the region. “But the picture taken with the manilkara hexandra tree in the backdrop was evidence of the bird spotted at Point Calimere. Manilkara hexandra is an important species of a dry evergreen tree found in the region.”

He said that a team of forest officials are looking into the possibility of more such birds in the sanctuary as the bird may have tried to migrate somewhere else but could have come here due to successive cyclones.

“It used Point Calimere as a transit and may not stay here for long. Food requirements of the bird is also different as they feed on animal carcases which they may not find in abundance in this region,” he said.

MAJESTIC: The bird was spotted near Thambusamy Illam – a forest guest house ravaged by cyclone Gaja two years ago