Green Options

Scientists and wildlife enthusiasts are excited about seeing bearded vultures in Himachal Pradesh, near the Chinese border.

Now that vultures have tragically become a rare sight in India, seeing nearly 200 of them is a thrilling event - even though bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) are not presently an endangered species.

Farmers illegally using poison to kill suspected livestock predators are causing Namibia’s vulnerable vulture populations to decline.

As a consequence of farmers continuing to illegally use poison for livestock management, several lappet-faced vultures (Torgos tracheliotos) recently died from consuming the carcass of a poisoned jackal.

Tragically, this news comes shortly after the Vultures Namibia’s fundraiser gala raised N$8 000 for lappet-faced vulture conservation in Namib Naukluft Park. Lappet-faced vultures are classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They are Africa’s largest vulture species - with a wingspan of up to 2.8 meters.

The Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre in Pinjore has reason to celebrate: The Centre’s first slender-billed nestling is now 140 days old and ready to fledge.

With fewer than 1,000 slender-billed vultures left, this event marks a triumphant milestone in VCBC’s captive breeding program. And there’s more good news: A slender-billed nestling hatched at Rajabhatkhawa Centre in West Bengal has recently fledged.

In a recent release from vulturerescue.org, the director of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Dr. Asad R. Rahmani said

The hatching of this endangered species has given us more confidence in the husbandry and care of vultures practiced at our centres.

In order to provide safe food for critically endangered vultures, Pakistan has opened a “vulture restaurant.”

After 95% of the vulture populations in India, Nepal and Pakistan were lost due to poisoning by the drug Diclofenac, the idea of “vulture restaurants” have been catching on.

Vulture restaurants serve up the carcasses of cattle that have been monitored by a veterinarian prior to death, to confirm the animals have not been treated with Diclofenac.

Following on the success of Nepal’s vulture restaurants, Dhartee Development Society, in collaboration with the UNDP Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme has opened a vulture restaurant in Pakistan.

Three species of Gyps vulture are in danger of extinction - poisoned by the use of diclofenac in livestock. India, Nepal, and Pakistan have lost 95% of their vulture populations.

As recently as the early 1980’s, there were approximately 40 million vultures in India, comprised of nine species. Now there are only 60,000 of these important scavengers left. Captive breeding efforts are in progress, the last hope of saving these birds from extinction.

The alarming population decline was first observed In the late 1990’s by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), in a breeding colony of White-backed Vultures in Keoladeo National park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan.

By 2000, there were no breeding pairs left.