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No Vulture Electrocutions Were Recorded During Limited Follow-up After a Carcass Dump Was Moved

Himalayan Griffon perched in Uttarakhand, India
Conservation · Management

Field observations in Sudhauwala near Dehradun, India, documented 46 vulture carcasses attributed to electrocution near high-tension power infrastructure. The study, published on 26 August 2026 in Journal of Threatened Taxa, also found that Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) had the highest proportional mortality relative to the number observed.

Researchers carried out 34 surveys between May 2011 and February 2014 and recorded 743 individual vultures belonging to five species. Himalayan Griffon showed the highest proportion of electrocution mortality, followed by Eurasian Griffon (Gyps fulvus) and Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus). In total, 46 carcasses attributable to electrocution were found close to high-tension transmission structures.

The carcass dumping site that attracted vultures to the area was relocated about 2.4 km away from the high-risk power infrastructure in April 2015 in coordination with local authorities. Vultures continued to use the new site, and no mortality events were recorded during the limited post-relocation monitoring reported by the authors.

The surveys before relocation were non-systematic, and the post-relocation monitoring was limited. The authors nevertheless identify the location of food sources relative to dangerous electrical infrastructure as a practical management factor that can be changed to reduce local electrocution risk.

Sources and image credit

  1. Anver, J., Senger, Y. V. S., Ghimire, B., Ngullie, V., Nanda, H. R., Dorji, T. P., Sharma, A., Jain, A., Biswas, S., Kumar, A., & Muzahed, M. (2026). Linear power infrastructure and vulture electrocution risk: mitigation through carcass dump relocation in Sudhauwala, Dehradun, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 18(8), 29390–29400. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9501.18.8.29390-29400Primary peer-reviewed study. Thirty-four surveys from May 2011 to February 2014 recorded 743 vultures of five species and 46 carcasses attributable to electrocution near high-tension infrastructure. Himalayan Griffon had the highest proportional mortality. After the carcass dump was relocated about 2.4 km in April 2015, no mortality events were recorded during limited post-relocation monitoring.

Image: Shiv's fotografia — Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) photographed in Uttarakhand, India, 18 February 2026; Wikimedia Commons. Representative living bird, not an individual from the Sudhauwala electrocution study. CC BY-SA 4.0. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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