Vultures in South Asia have been under threat for over a decade now, but a slim silver lining has appeared on the horizon, thanks to the efforts of the Government and non-governmental organisations.
Captive breeding centres run by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) with support from the UK-based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds managed to rear 18 birds in 2011.
Other vulture conservation programmes in Assam and Gujarat have given positive reports through the education of veterinarians and livestock owners.
Vultures have been declining due to the effect of a drug, diclofenac, used to treat cattle. When vultures feed on these cattle, it causes kidney failure in the birds.
The Indian Government banned the drug and teamed up with BNHS under the SAVE (Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction) consortium to bring the vultures back from the brink of extinction. Researchers also identified an alternative drug, meloxicam, which is effective for treating cattle but does not harm the birds.
A recent vulture estimation exercise at Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh threw up encouraging results, with some 1,700 vultures being counted in the periphery of the protected area. The reserve’s Regional Director R. Shriniwas Moorthy said that of 659 residential vultures found there, 476 were Long Billed Vultures, 86 were White Backed Vultures, 52 were Egyptian Vultures and 45 were Red-headed Vultures.
There were also 160 migratory vultures in the reserve: 41 European Griffon, 115 Himalayan Griffon and four belonging to the cinereous species.
Interestingly, when the population estimation drive was begun in 2010, the untrained staff could not differentiate between the Lal sir (red-headed), Pila chonch (yellow-beaked) and Kali chonch (black-beaked) vultures! Birds and humans have come a long way!