Singapore’s Natural History Museum to study carcasses of two Himalayan vultures

Singapore, Jan 19 (PTI) A Singapore Natural History Museum will study and do research on carcasses of two Himalayan vultures that were rescued earlier this month exhausted when they flew out of their range, but died of weak health, it was reported on Monday.

“The museum accepted the carcass (of the first vulture) as it represents Singapore’s first recorded specimen of the species, making it of significant scientific and national importance,” Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum’s assistant senior curator of birds, Dr Tan Yen Yi, was quoted as saying to The Straits Times.

The second Himalayan vulture rescued more than a week ago by Singapore’s Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) died on January 15, the animal protection charity confirmed on Monday. Its carcass had been handed to the museum.

The first bird, rescued on January 3, was euthanised on January 7 after its health worsened, according to media reports.

ACRES chief executive officer Kalai Vanan Balakrishnan said a post-mortem showed that the second rescued raptor died of “acute intoxication from pre-existing kidney and gastrointestinal problems”, which were exacerbated by stress and exhaustion.

The carcasses of the two birds have been transferred to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum of the National University of Singapore for education and research.

“During his treatment, the (second) vulture seemed to show glimpses of progress. While he was being attended to indoors, we were separately preparing our outdoor cage for him as well, as it can be stressful for such a large bird to be confined indoors,” the Singapore daily quoted Kalai as saying.

“Sadly, his condition took a sudden turn for the worse and deteriorated quickly over a 12-hour period on January 15. Our vet team responded immediately with emergency care, but the vulture passed on close to midnight while under attempts by our vet team to stabilise him,” he said.

The second migratory bird was rescued by ACRES on January 11 near the East Coast Parkway highway.

Mass sightings of Himalayan vultures in Singapore started on January 4 at Maju Forest in Clementi on the west coast of Singapore.

The Himalayan vulture – native to mountain ranges in northern India – is considered a vagrant bird species in Singapore.

This means it appears far outside its normal geographic range, usually as a rare and irregular occurrence, according to the reports.

Known for their long, broad wings and whitish streaks on their brownish mantle and scapulars, the birds are currently classified as “near threatened” by BirdLife International, a global partnership of non-governmental organisations dedicated to bird conservation. PTI GS GSP GSP