Tinsukia, Feb 3: The villagers of Tinsukia on Sunday performed the last rites of the vultures that died due to poisoning at Dhulijan village in the upper Assam Tinsukia district.
The villagers showed a great example of coexistence and bonding between humans and wildlife.
Vivek Menon of Wildlife Trust of India tweeted, “Happy to release 6 Slender-billed and 2 White-rumped #Vultures in Assam after treatment for unintentional #poisoning. Paid homage to the 36 that died with villagers who had kept awake (Shraddh) for vultures. Indian values and challenges in nutshell #conservation”.
Happy to release 6 Slender billed and 2 White rumped #Vultures in Assam after treatment for unintentional #poisoning. Paid homage to the 36 that died with villagers who had kept a wake ( Shraddh) for vultures. Indian values and challenges in nutshell #conservation pic.twitter.com/DrID0WzF59
— Vivek Menon (@vivek4wild) February 1, 2021
 On January 18, villagers of Dhulijan found carcasses of vultures and within a week, at least 36 vultures carcasses were found dead in and around the village.
They were died after consuming the flesh of seven cows which allegedly died due to “poisoning” after drinking from a nearby water body.
A forest official said that on Sunday hundreds of villagers from Dhulijan, Betoni, Borgora and Tamuli villages under the Doomdooma forest division, along with several NGO’s, gathered to pay homage to the dead vultures.
In the coming days, the villagers have decided to plant trees and preserve tall trees preferred by vultures to build nests.
The population of the slender-billed vultures, however, has come down by 99 percent, raising alarm with conservationists the world over.
