Vultures sighted in western UP,Forest Dept hopes for jump in count

The result of four districts – Rampur,Moradabad,Bijnore and JP Nagar – of Moradabad division were the first ones to be released. Of these,the latter two showed good population of the vultures. Twenty-six vultures were sighted in Amangarh forest range between Bijnore and JP Nagar and 57 in Najibabad forest range in Bijnore,bordering Uttarakhand. In Hastinapur Sanctuary near JP Nagar,54 vultures have been sighted. About a dozen vultures have also been recorded from Rampur. However,not a single bird has been sighted in Moradabad district.

The Forest department compares these sightings to those done in 2005-06. Talking to The Indian Express,the Conservator (Moradabad division),AB Singh said,“This is good news for us as the vultures had nearly gone extinct. We have found the numbers were higher in the dense forest areas whereas in ranges which were close to urban areas,the vulture count was negligible.”

Singh said in the last survey,the vulture count in Moradabad and Saharanpur divisions was barely 97.

The Forest department expects the present vulture population in UP could be 1770,which is a far cry from the thousands a decade ago. The census was based on identifying six species of vultures – white backed,long billed,slender billed,griffon,king vulture and white scavenger. Of these,three species – white backed,slender billed and long billed – which used to be commonly found till less than a decade ago,are now classified as the rarest and are protected under Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act.

Chief Conservator of Forests (Eco-development) KK Jha said the numbers have certainly made the department happy. “The last census in 2005-06 had recorded 986 vultures in the state. We conducted the census at a time when the eggs were hatched and the final phase will cover these newborns too,which will see a jump in the count. We will also be classifying the numbers according to the species to get the final report,” he said.