Vultures have been the integral part of the food chain of the ecosystem and served as scavenger. But now the scavenger’s population is on decline drastically and they are endangered. Their absolute decline can devastate environment posing severe problem of ecological imbalances. And Indian subcontinent is especially under threat.
Populations of three species of South Asian vulture, the white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), the long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus) and the slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris), have declined rapidly within the last decade and all are now critically endangered. These vultures is heading towards extinction unless the official use of a livestock drug is banned completely in practice that has caused the birds to decline faster than the dodo. This was reiterated by Indian and British veterinary Scientists.
The study confirms that the population of oriental white-backed vultures has plunged 99.9 per cent since 1992 while the numbers of two species, the long-billed and slender-billed vultures, together have fallen by nearly 97 per cent.
The study confirms that the population of oriental white-backed vultures has plunged 99.9 per cent since 1992 while the numbers of two species, the long-billed and slender-billed vultures, together have fallen by nearly 97 per cent.
It is opined that a wider ban of the veterinary drug diclofenac and more captive breeding centers are the only way to save the birds found mainly in India. However, India banned manufacture of the veterinary form of the anti-inflammatory in 2006, but a version formulated for humans is still used to treat livestock, the researchers said. When the vultures feed on carcasses they ingest the drug, which shuts down their kidneys and kills them within days. The ban on diclofenac production for veterinary use was an excellent first step. But this alone is insufficient to save the dying vultures population. Vultures are important to the ecosystem and for human health in India because they are the primary means of scavenging of dead animal carcasses in the nation of some 1.12 billion people.The decline of these birds have led to a sharp increase in dead animals around villages and towns, which has boosted the numbers of disease-carrying rats and rabid stray dogs, as reported by the bystander. This is a direct consequence of the decline of the vultures.
A study followed four previous counts and was the first since 2003. The researchers have warned that all three species could dwindle down to a few hundred birds or less to the verge of extinction in less than 10 years. The researchers believe that the number of oriental white-backed vultures in India could now be as low as 11,000 from tens of millions in the 1980s. Populations of the long-billed vultures have dropped to 45,000 while only an estimated 1,000 of the slender-billed species remain.
The way things rolling up, the extinction of vultures could be faster than the Dodo, which at least took 100 years to be wiped out from the earth.
