A 7-year-old Cinereous vulture that was rescued from the 2017 Ockhi cyclone by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department is set be released in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur.
The Nagercoil forest department officials in 2017 saved a two-year-old Cinereous vulture from the Asaripallam town in Nagercoil of Kanyakumari district after it was caught in high wind currents and a change in the wind pattern during the Ockhi cyclone. The vulture was then transported to Kanyakumari’s Udayagiri Bio-Diversity Park, where it has been cared for the past five years.
According to Ilayaraja, Kanyakumari DFO, the vulture was kept in utmost care for the past five years following the rescue. The vulture was determined to be fit for release after undergoing a number of inspections. The DFO further said that since there are fewer vultures in Southern regions, we have chosen to release it at Machia Biological Park in Jodhpur. The vulture won’t have any problems finding food as the area is also a cattle disposal facility.
Eventually, the forest department transported the vulture to Vandalur Zoo near Chennai by an AC car, and it will be flown from there to Rajasthan on November 3 after special arrangements have been made in the Jodhpur Forest Area, as per the forest department.
Udayagiri Bio-Diversity Park in Kanyakumari is home to numerous varieties of creatures, including deer, peacocks, colorful and rare insects, and monkeys, which is entirely under the supervision of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department.
Native to Central Asia, Cinereous vulture is classified as a rare vulture in India. These enormous eagles, with a height of around three and a half feet, wide eyes, a curved unit with a pointed tip, pointed claws on the toes, a wingspan of six feet, and a weight of up to 14 kg in flight, soar through the skies and utilize their keen vision to hunt down prey and catch fish. It is reportedly most prevalent in the state of Rajasthan. Apparently, this vulture is said to have life expectancy of 32-35 years, according to official.
This magnificent vulture was discovered injured and unable to fly in the Chinnamuttam neighborhood of Kanyakumari in 2017 after changing its path during Cyclone Ockhi and entering Tamil Nadu. The forest department sent the injured vulture to the Udayagiri Park and gave it the name ‘Ockhi’ as a representation of cyclone Ockhi. Meanwhile, wildlife activists demanded that the rare species of eagle should not be kept in a cage and should be released immediately into its natural habitat– the Rajasthan forests as it recovered.
The forest department has been working on this predicament for the past five months in order to return the completely trained vulture to its natural environment. After consulting with a group of professionals, including a medical team, it was agreed to fly the vulture to Rajasthan as the district forest officer estimated it would take several days to get the vulture there by train or road.
Apparently, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has granted special clearance for the transport of vulture other than cats and dogs on aircraft. In this instance, it was driven by an AC car from Udayagiri Bio-Diversity park to Vandalur Arignar Anna Zoological Park near Chennai. On November 3, the team headed by Dr. Manoharan announced plans to ‘fly’ the vulture to Rajasthan and release it in the Jodhpur forest, along with the installation of a GPS device on the wing to track the eagle’s movements. The zoo staffs bid farewell to the vulture before being returned to its home territory.
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