Population of three species of vulture declining

NEW DELHI: The population of three species of vulture has witnessed a decline in the country during the last few years due to presence of poisonous substances in food, government informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The affected species are white-backed vulture, slender billed vulture and long billed vulture, Minister of State for Environment and Forests S Regupathy said.

The presence of poisonous substances has been due to various reasons including intensive agriculture, horticulture and dairying, he said.

Other causes responsible are loss of habitat and anthropogenic pressures, the minister said.

To another question, the minister said it is possible that there may have been stray incidents of killing of birds but there were no reports of any large scale killing.