Strengthen safe zone for vultures

Kathmandu, Sept. 3: Vultures, the most efficient scavenging birds, play an important ecological role by rapidly consuming animal carcasses.

They also have an important cultural role in the consumption of human dead bodies in sky burials within Nepal and Tibet. The ecologically important group of birds are now facing a range of threats in many areas. 

To raise awareness among the local people about the importance of vulture conservation for a healthy ecosystem and to highlight the important work being carried out by the world’s vulture conservationists, the first Saturday in September each year is celebrated as International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD) with the theme ‘Strengthen the Vulture Safe Zone.’

According to Krishna Prasad Bhusal, IUCN Vulture Specialist Group Member, the importance of vulture is presented in Hindu mythology as well. A vulture is said to be the carrier of God Sani (Saturn), and a vulture struggled with Ravana to stop the kidnap of Sita in the Ramayan. 

Vultures are natural scavengers and tend not to hunt by themselves. They feed on the carcasses of dead animals, consuming them within a short interval of time. There is much symbolism surrounding the scavenging of vultures, which is associated with purification and rebirth, and their ability to fly high in the sky in search of food and a resting place, Bhusal said.

Bhusal said that there have been many challenges to vulture conservation. The main cause behind the sheer decline in the vulture population is the use of the veterinary drug diclofenac, which is widely used to treat livestock in Asia. Vultures are highly susceptible to diclofenac, and they are exposed to the drug through the carcasses of treated livestock. When they consume sufficient tissue from diclofenac-treated animal carcasses, that induce kidney failure with clinical signs of visceral gout, he said.

Currently, 23 species of vultures have been recorded in the world with nine species in South Asia and nine species in Nepal. Of the nine species of vultures found in Nepal, four are critically endangered -- the Long-billed, White-rumped, Slender-billed and Golden Vultures -- according to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). The Himalayan Griffon, Hadfor and Cinereous Vultures are also on near-endangered status.

Vulture Awareness Day 

According to a research “Distribution and Population Status of Vultures in Nepal” conducted by Deu 

Bahadur Rana of Bird Conservation Nepal and his team, Himalayan 

Griffon was the most widely distributed vulture, occurring across a wide range. 

Eight out of nine species were found in the hill regions. The distribution of critically endangered vultures are widely distributed from the west to the central part of the country. 

The number of vultures has gradually increased over recent years, which is mainly because of an integrated vulture conservation approach, such as the creation of Vulture Safe Zones. The Indian vulture, a critically endangered vagrant to Nepal, was recorded regularly for two consecutive years since 2019.

The total number of vultures across Nepal is around 20,000 as per the latest census in 2019, down from 1.6 million in the 1980s.

Meanwhile our Dhangadhi Correspondent Abinash Chaudhary reported that the nest of vultures has decreased in Kailai in the 2022 survey as compared to last year. 

The 2021 survey showed that the number of vulture nests was 28, down from 82 in 2013. Vultures have built their nests in forest areas such as Khutia Community Forest, Patela Community Forest of the district.

Although the number of vulture nests in Kailali has decreased slightly, the number in Kanchanpur is continuously increasing.