Vulture population fails to soar high in Kovai

Though diclofenac has been banned, there are other drugs like nimesulide, aceclofenac, ketoprofen, flunixin and carprofen that pose a similar threat to the survival of vultures. “After a persistent battle from activists, the government came down on the sale of vulture killing diclofenac, a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug, to treat cattle for joint pains. Our relief did not last long as some new drugs, which were proposed to be an alternative to diclofenac, have invaded the open market and were found to be equally fatal to the vultures,” said S Bharathidasan, secretary of Arulagam, an NGO involved in conservation of vultures. 

These pain killer drugs generally damage the kidneys of the birds, when they consume the carcass of the toxic drug-ingested livestock, resulting in their imminent death. “After a visible decline in vultures, we noticed some stability in their population due to conservation efforts. However, vulture sightings have again become scarce, possibly due to the widespread drought last year. This is a confusing trend which needs to be studied for further understanding,” added Bharathidasan. 

Vultures number merely a few hundreds, seen predominantly in Moyar Valley, which once boasted a vulture population in thousands. Of the nine types of vultures found in India, four vulture species, such as white backed vulture, long billed vulture, king vulture and Egyptian vulture are common in Moyar Valley. On the conservation front, officials of the Forest department said that they leave the carcass of dead animals without burying them, for the vultures to feed on.

Meanwhile, conservationists wanted a vulture rescue centre to be established for abandoned, injured chicks as well as the adult vultures at Moyar valley. “A quarantine aviary should also be established to release the rescued vultures, when they are ready to fly,” said a leading conservationist. Vultures, which prey on dead animals, are considered necessary to maintain the ecological balance and bio-diversity of the land. Their population has also gone down due to indiscriminate urbanisation, caused by shrinking forests area, lack of prey and other factors.