Department of Wildlife Protection organised a one day training programme for the frontline staff on conservation of Raptor birds in Jammu and Kashmir. The training was organised at Wildlife Training Centre Jasrota and inaugurated by Suresh Kumar Gupta, Chief Wildlife Warden, Jammu and Kashmir with lighting of ceremonial lamp.
In his address, the Chief Wildlife Warden said that J&K is rich in bio-diversity of raptors which are birds of prey. He said that out of nine species of vultures in the country, six species are already reported in J&K.
“Similarly, the diverse forms of eagles, kites, owls etc form richness of raptor bio-diversity in J&K,” he added. He called upon the participants to understand the importance of raptors in the ecosystem for appropriate conservation measures.
During the inaugural programme, “Training Manual for Identification threatened Raptors in Western Himalayas” prepared by Dr. Pankaj Chandan was released. Two posters on raptor birds prepared by Sachin Kumar Bhagat were also released.
On the occasion, Chief Wildlife Warden also released the e-Calendar of the Department of Wildlife Protection. He also honoured three local persons of the area for their exemplary role in rescue of wild animals.
Chief Wildlife Warden inaugurated three prefabricated barracks and renovated hostel for trainees at the training centre. Dr. Kumar MK, Regional Wildlife Warden, Jammu presented keynote address.
Prominent resource persons for the training programme were Dr. Neeraj Sharma, Dr. Pankaj Chandan, Dr. Sudesh Kumar and Sachin Kumar Bhagat. Sarpanch Sudershan Khajuria and prominent citizens also attended the inaugural programme.
During the whole day programme participants had thorough interaction with resource persons and research scholars working on the raptor birds. The programme was conducted by Vijay Kumar Wildlife Warden, Kathua.