JAISALMER: Shocked by the death of Griffon vultures, a Schedule 1 category bird, near Chacha railway station under the Pokhran sub-division, forest authorities here have shot a letter to authorities of Jodhpur railways asking them to spread awareness and maintain better vigil.
The vultures were run over by a train late on Wednesday evening when they were feasting on a carcass on the tracks. The post-mortem of the birds was done on Friday. According to forest officials, after collecting the body parts of birds, the count of deceased birds has gone up.
"As against the estimate of about a dozen birds that we had presumed were killed, we realised that at least 15 birds have been killed while some of them were smothered on the tracks. The number of dead birds could actually be between 18 and 20," said Khyati Mathur, DFO, Jaisalmer.
"We have written a strongly worded letter to the railway authorities asking them to be more careful henceforth. We have asked them to deploy gangmen along the tracks to drive away the birds if they are spotted sitting along the tracks," she said.
Forest authorities have also urged the railways to reduce their speed or even stop the trains in such instances in the future.
"The vulture population in Rajasthan has seen a steep decline over the years. The Union government had had to intervene due to the drastic fall in their numbers and open breeding centres. A breeding centre in Haryana releases 60-70 vultures every year to maintain their numbers," said Anoop K R, deputy forest conservator, Desert National Park.
The vultures were run over by a train late on Wednesday evening when they were feasting on a carcass on the tracks. The post-mortem of the birds was done on Friday. According to forest officials, after collecting the body parts of birds, the count of deceased birds has gone up.
"As against the estimate of about a dozen birds that we had presumed were killed, we realised that at least 15 birds have been killed while some of them were smothered on the tracks. The number of dead birds could actually be between 18 and 20," said Khyati Mathur, DFO, Jaisalmer.
"We have written a strongly worded letter to the railway authorities asking them to be more careful henceforth. We have asked them to deploy gangmen along the tracks to drive away the birds if they are spotted sitting along the tracks," she said.
Forest authorities have also urged the railways to reduce their speed or even stop the trains in such instances in the future.
"The vulture population in Rajasthan has seen a steep decline over the years. The Union government had had to intervene due to the drastic fall in their numbers and open breeding centres. A breeding centre in Haryana releases 60-70 vultures every year to maintain their numbers," said Anoop K R, deputy forest conservator, Desert National Park.
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