Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Even as the final figures of the vulture census are yet to be released by the forest department, there is a rough estimation that the population of the bird has increased by 10 percent in comparison to the last census held in the state two years ago. The vulture population has seen a rise in the protected forests. In the last census, 9,400 vultures of different species were spotted across the state. This time, however, vultures are estimated to be more than 10,000 in numbers.
The field director of Van Vihar National Park, Padmapriya Balakrishnan, who is heading the census work, told Free Press that it is a good thing that there is a 10 percent hike in the vulture population. Vulture is a slow breeding bird and throughout the year, a vulture lays only one egg, wherein the survival rate is 50 percent, she added.
Across the country, only nine types of vultures are found and of them, seven are spotted in the state. They include Egyptian vulture, red-headed vulture, white-rumped vulture, long-billed vulture and Eurasian vulture etc. The final figure of the vulture census 2024 could not be released as some forest divisions have not given the count. Second, the forest department wants to release the census in the presence of the forest minister. Once the minister confirms the time, the census will be released in a programme.
