The nomination "Responsible for those ...": The Red Book bird was sheltered in the Tuvan Society for the protection of animals "Khatiko".
A black vulture, listed in the Red Book of Russia, was discovered in one of the entrances of Kyzyl. The journalists of the Tuva 24 TV channel told about the terrifying find. Unknown people threw a rare bird wrapped in polyethylene. Ornithologists immediately sounded the alarm, because the case is egregious. One of the largest birds among the vultures was in a depressing condition, almost unable to move.
"When they probed his sternum at the initial examination, the vulture was moaning. The bird turned out to have lead poisoning, an X-ray of the ribs showed a fraction. Novosibirsk ornithologists instructed us on which medications to take. And we have already conducted appropriate therapy. The doctors gave him injections, and our task was to feed him and walk with him. In fact, they became very attached to him," said Irina Lifanova, founder of the Hatiko Animal Welfare Society.
It was to the Khatiko volunteers that the vulture, who was named Grisha, got after he was thrown out to die. Irina Lifanova, along with her volunteer colleagues, got down to business. After all, the goal was not just to save the bird, but also to try to send the vulture back to the wild.
According to animal rights activists and ornithologists, this is not the first case of such injuries in vultures in Tuva in the summer of 2025. Shortly before this story, there was a signal about an injured bird 200 kilometers from Kyzyl. There is an opinion that someone fired a shot at a flock of vultures, and then the birds were able to fly some distance.
"Our vulture allowed himself to help, actually. The ornithologists told us, they say, you don't approach him, he'll bite off your finger in one second. But I stroked his head, his neck, lifted his wings. And he never bit me, even though there were such weak attempts," Irina Lifanova continues.
After Grisha got a little stronger, he was on his way to Barnaul, to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Only there are conditions for the return of these predators to their habitat. If Grisha manages to fully heal the wing, and during this time he does not lose the skills necessary for survival in the wild, the vulture will have a chance to return home.
The Animal Protection Society "Khatiko" appeared in Tuva in 2015. Its permanent head is Irina Lifanova, it was she who managed to unite the volunteers. Thousands of animals have gained a chance at life thanks to the tenacity of the founder of Hachiko. Among the rescued are dozens of dogs recovered from cesspools and fuel oil traps, horses trapped in construction pits, and Red Book birds with severe injuries.
Moreover, there is a dog shelter of the same name in Tuva, "Khatiko", built from scratch on sheer enthusiasm. It has become a home for almost five hundred neglected pets.
Irina Lifanova herself is not a doctor, but she helps treat animals, and more than 1,200 foundlings are helped every year. Send them to the best veterinarians, pay for online consultations with specialists from different regions of the country, and deliver expensive and rare veterinary drugs to Tuva. Well, since 2022, Irina Lifanova and colleagues have been helping military personnel in the area of special military zone.
Photos from the personal archive of the Lifanov family.