- After feeding on pesticide-laced cattle carcass at Bam Rajabari village in eastern Assam’s Sivasagar district, at least 37 vultures belonging to three endangered species died on March 29, 2019 .
- Most of the 37 vultures that died are Himalayan griffon. A few are oriental white-backed and slender-billed vultures.
- As per the forest officials, tt was a clear case of poisoning the carcass of a cow by the villagers, meant to kill feral dogs. But, as is often the case, the vultures died.
- A study by the Bombay Natural History Society and other organisations in the 1990s found that the population of the Gyps group — Himalayan griffon, white-backed and slender-billed are among its members — in India and Nepal declined from about 40 million by 99.9% in just two decades.
- Most vultures have disappeared and the reason is Diclofenac, a pain killer drug given to cattle which can kill birds. When vultures feed on the carcasses of animals with Diclofenac, they also die. Later the drug was banned by the government. As vultures play a vital role in keeping the environment clean, their breeds should be increased and the government is constantly working to increase their numbers.
- India has nine nine species of vultures, six of which are found in Assam.
