On Saturday the International Vulture Awareness Day tried to bring to the worlds attention threats to these giant birds. Increasingly the vulture is becoming more endangered and conservation plans are being drawn up to help conserve these birds. Threats include the loss of wild animals on which they feed and also the use of veterinary drugs which are toxic to vultures.
Many countries in Asia are seeing vulture numbers continue to decline. India has seen vulture numbers drop by 90% in the last 10 years. In Gujarat, for example, vulture numbers are though to be as low as 1000. This major drop in the population has led to a number of workshops being held and a conservation plan being organised to help rebuild the vulture population. However the drop of wild populations means that a captive breeding programme would need to be considered to ensure the survival of vulture species.
It’s not all bad news though. Cambodia has managed to reverse the fall in numbers of vultures in it’s country and the scavengers are increasing in number once more. This journey away from extinction for the vulture is being guided by the Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
A recent survey has revealed that Cambodia is the only country in Asia that is seeing increases in vulture numbers. Three species of vulture – all critically endangered – was recorded in Cambodia during the survey. The White-rumped vulture was seen to be increasing in numbers while the slender billed and red headed vultures numbers had remained stable.
A total of 296 individual birds were recorded in the survey and this season proved to be a record for vulture chicks with 36 recorded compared to 19 chicks last year.
A numbers of things are helping the vultures in Cambodia buck the declining trends of other Asian countries. Farming practices in Cambodia means that the vultures are not faced with the major threat of the drug diclofenac which is widely used in cattle in other countries around the world. This anti-inflammatory drug is toxic to vultures and causes renal failure. However over the last couple of years increasing number of vultures in Cambodia have been killed by eating food that has been poisoned by the use of pesticides. Greater use of pesticides and inadequate knowledge of how to use them correctly could lead to greater losses.
Song Chansocheat, Ministry of Environment and WCS Vulture Project Manager, commented that “Cambodia is the only Asian country where diclofenac is rarely used and vulture populations are managed. We have been monitoring vultures since 2004 and there have been increasing numbers of poisoned birds recently. Educating people about the risk to wildlife and people from incorrect use of poisons is important.”
Conservation projects carried out in Cambodia has also allowed vulture numbers to recover. Projects include paying local communities to guard over vulture nests during the breeding season. This helps the villages as well as the birds because the breeding season coincides with the dry period when villagers income is at it’s lowest of the year. A number of vulture restaurants have also been opened to provide additional ‘clean’ food for vultures. This also helps the local rural economies as they attract visitors who come to see the birds up close.
“By protecting nests and supplementing food supplies, we are saving some of the world’s largest and most charismatic birds,” stated Dr. Hugo Rainey, WCS technical advisor to the Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project. “Nowhere else in Asia do vultures have such a promising future.”
“Cambodia has become a critical source site for vultures, one that we need to protect as a means of saving these ecologically valuable birds,” said Joe Walston, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Asia Program.
The International Vulture Awareness Day is doing all it can to highlight some of the dangers facing these wonderful and unique scavengers They play an important role in the ecology and recycling of nutrients. Hopefully wild populations of vultures will continue for many years to come and the day stops being a day of raising concerns for the vulture but instead becomes a celebration of the species.
Photo credit: Rennett Stowe
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