Vultures: India
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Drug ban gives vultures wings
The Times of India, February 4, 2016
Oppili P Drug ban gives vultures wings: Ups diversity, nos.
They were natural scavengers once abundantly found across Tamil Nadu but in the past three decades the introduc tion of an anti-inflammatory drug for cattle proved fatal for them. Now with the ban on the drug, the population of vultures is steadily on the rise. Southern India is home to four species of these birds of prey . While the long billed, red-headed, white-rumped vultures are seen in the state, the Egyptian vulture which is largely found in neigh bouring Karnataka and made its first ap pearence here last year, say research ers. Estimates show there were 120 white-rumped, 22 long-billed, 20 red headed and 30 Egyptian vultures in the state in 2015.
Though there are no updated sta tistics at present, increased sightings of vultures in various parts of the state h a v e been reported in the past couple of months. A fortnight ago, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve field director Srinivas R Reddy said about 20 vultures swooped down behind their office in Theppakkadu in the Nilgiris to feed on a carcass. “We spotted a carcass of a spotted deer around a kilometre from the reception range office, when suddenly at least 20 red-headed and white-rumped vultures descended on the carcass. This clearly shows their population in the wild has increased considerably ,“ said Reddy .He added that the sighting of this large number came as a surprise to the officials.Vultures are known to be found in the areas under Nilgiris north forest division like Siriyur in Vazhaithottam and Mangalapatti in Thengumarahada and the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve.
But the sighting is not that unexpected considering that a white-rumped vulture pair was spotted in Pulicat during Pongal by a young bird watcher Vikas Madhav while conducting a bird count. “When I was recording the birds I sighted, I saw a pair of unusual ones. When I took a closer look I identified them as white-rumped vultures,“ he said. “This is significant as it is the first ever vulture sighting in Pulicat area in the past two decades,“ said a member of the Madras Naturalists' Society , who had organised the bird count.
Secretary of the Coimbatore-based Arulagam, a vulture conservation organisation S Bharathi Dasan said last year many new sightings of vultures were reported across the state including in Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Nagapattinam and Tiruvannamalai districts. He said the vulture conservationists have been vociferous against use of anesthetic drug, diclofenac, used to treat diseases in cattle.Feeding on the carcasses of livestock treated with the drug proved deadly for the vultures. Since the drug's ban in 2008 the birds of prey have been able to return from the brink of extinction. Subsequently , the Centre introduced ketoprophane, an alternative of diclofenac. But conservationists opposed this move too, as the new drug posed a threat to the survival of the vultures. The Centre, however, has issued an order banning the use of ketoprophane, a couple of months ago, Bharathi said.
“Earlier whenever any animal died in the wildlife, forest officials used to bury the carcass but now with the vultures coming back we leave it in the open for them to feed on,“ said the conservationist. This has helped to bring back the ecological balance and completed the food chain, said researchers.
