Nineteen vultures, belonging to two species, have died after eating meat from a poisoned calf’s carcass in Assam’s Sibsagar district, officials have said.
The vultures died on April 21 at Lepaigaon Pathar of the district.
Thirteen other vultures have been rescued and sent to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga National Park.
“Seventeen of the dead vultures were Slender Billed while two others were White Backed. Preliminary investigation suggests it could be a case of secondary poisoning,” Jayasharee Naiding, Sibsagar’s divisional forest officer, said.
“The primary target of the poisoning could be some other species, maybe stray dogs or wolves. But the vultures fed on the poisoned carcass and it resulted in the deaths,” she added.
It is suspected that nearby villagers could have poisoned the carcass.
The forest department has registered a case under provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act against unknown persons and investigation initiated.
“The condition of the 13 vultures sent to CWRC is stable and they are recovering well,” Naiding said.
Last year in March, 39 vultures died after consuming poisoned meat at Panidihing in Sibsagar district.