Himalayan griffon vultures found dead in Semariya amid suspected poisoning
25 Himalayan griffon vultures were found dead in Semariya village, Uttar Pradesh, after apparently eating poisoned carcasses.
Officials think the birds were accidentally poisoned by pesticide-laced rice meant for stray dogs.
A villager noticed the vultures circling before they suddenly collapsed, raising alarms.
Six vultures rescued, postmortems underway
Six vultures were rescued and treated. Four have already recovered and flown away.
Postmortems are underway, with samples sent for further testing to confirm what happened.
To help prevent this in the future, forest officials are launching an awareness campaign about the dangers of using toxic substances.
As Deputy Director Kirti Chaudhary put it, "We're working with district officials to make sure this doesn't happen again."
The Himalayan griffon is currently listed as "Near Threatened" globally.