Union Environment and Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar inaugurated the National Centre for Avian Ecotoxicology at Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural Sciences (SACON), Anaikatti, near Coimbatore.
SACON was formed in 1990.
The Centre would study the harmful effects of environmental contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals and drugs on birds, which reach them through the food chain.
Ecotoxicological studies are important because ecological factors are unable to explain continued mortality of birds.
Example: the near extinction of vultures, from 40 million to nearly one thousand.