The carcasses of three Himalayan vultures were recovered from a field at Chayygaon under Assam’s Kamrup district on Thursday.

Sources said the vultures were found dead at a field near Nowamati village in Chayygaon.

While three vultures were confirmed dead, one of them is said to be critical state.  It is suspected that the vultures died as a result of poisoning, however, the exact cause will be ascertained after post-mortem.

Meanwhile, forest officials reached the scene to take stock of the situation.

According to several reports, vultures become unintentional victims to poisoning as farmers often mix pesticides in the carcass of goat or a cow, intending to kill dogs that are a threat to livestock.

“Furadan is a commonly used pesticide which has been used in this case. It is used to kill pests like insects and rodents and is very lethal. In this case, they mixed the poison in the carcass of the goat, intending to kill dogs,” said scientist Sachin Ranade who manages the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre at Rani.

“Dogs attacking livestock is a complex problem but trying to poison the dogs is certainly not the way out. If they want action to be taken against dogs, then they should contact the municipal authorities. What they have done here is both cruel and illegal,” he added.

Earlier this year in January, as many as 25 vultures were found dead under mysterious circumstances in Assam’s Sivasagar district.

The carcasses were spotted by locals at a field in Gorkush area after which they informed forest authorities.

It is suspected that the vultures fell ill after feeding on a cattle carcass which was found few meters away from the spot.

Forest officials later reached the scene and administered first aid to the eight vultures that were still alive.