Electrocution of Himalayan vulture in 2020 highlights threats posed by high-tension power lines in Mudumalai 

Experts have called for retrofitting infrastructure, and have suggested reflectors on power lines and rubber-insulated wires in eco-sensitive areas, to minimise the risks to the bird population

The electrocution of a juvenile Himalayan vulture in 2020 in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) due to a high-tension power line, has highlighted the need to work on eliminating the threats posed to the vulture populations in the Sigur plateau in the Nilgiris, due to electricity infrastructure.

The findings of the electrocution of the vulture, believed to be the first such instance of a Himalayan vulture being electrocuted in South India, were published in the IUCN’s vulture specialist group’s newsletter. Researchers S. Manigandan, P. Kannan, H. Byju, S. Bharathidasam, Cimi Thambi and B. Ramakrishnan, recorded the death of the Himalayan vulture, an occasional winter migrant to the Sigur. The vulture was found dead in January of 2020, near the Maravakandy powerhouse. S. Manigandan, a wildlife biologist working with Arulagam, a conservation NGO working on studying and protecting vultures in the region, said that he had spotted a Himalayan vulture, possibly the same individual, two days prior to the discovery of the carcass near the powerhouse.

In the past, other vulture species, non-resident to the Sigur, such as the Cinereous vulture and the Eurasian griffon have also been recorded in the Sigur, he added.