Rare vulture found in Thailand to be flown home to Mongolia

Bangkok: The next time you take a Thai Airways flight to China, a passenger with a wingspan of nearly 2.8 metres and a taste for rotting carcasses may also be on board.

The country's national carrier announced yesterday that it will transport a juvenile cinereous vulture to Beijing on March 21 to help return the rare bird to its natural environment in Mongolia.

The bird - also known as a black vulture or monk vulture - has been nursed back to health by veterinarians at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, after apparently getting lost in late December and ending up dehydrated and near death in Chanthaburi province.

"We understand that it is the first time in Thailand that this type of vulture has been located and it is important that they are returned to their natural habitat," Thai Airways President Apinan Sumanaseni said in a statement.

He said the airline also has transported other rare animals in the past, including pandas and white tigers. Thai Airways will not charge for the flight. There will be a staff of five travelling with the vulture, including two veterinarians, it said.

The year-old vulture - about 1 metre tall with thick, brown feathers and an imposing black and white beak - will be transported in a cage that normally holds large dogs and has plenty of cushioning to protect the bird during the four-hour flight.

After that, it will be put on a China Airlines plane to Ulan Bator, Mongolia, and then be driven about 200km into a wilderness area near Erdenesant where it will be released, said Gawin Chutima, chairman of the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand, which is helping with the bird's return.

Villagers found the vulture in Chanthaburi province and turned it over to a British bird expert, Iola Veal, who lived in the area. She took it to Kasetsart University, where veterinarians confirmed it was free of bird flu and other infectious diseases.