Date:20/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/20/stories/2008122055510500.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Vultures sighted

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Glad tidings await the wildlife enthusiasts — a good number of vultures have been sighted in Thengumarahada forest area in Sathyamangalam Forest Division a couple of days ago.

S. Chandrasekaran, Member, Bombay Natural History Society, said a postgraduate student of the AVC College, Mayiladuthurai had gone to Thengumarahada to study about the vultures. A few days ago he was surprised to see nearly 200 vultures feeding on the carcasses of two feral buffaloes.

The sighted vultures belonged to three different species — White-backed, King and Nephron.

The Nephron vulture is assumed extinct in the State, said Mr. Chandrasekhar.