The Hindu : Front Page : From a common sight to a rare one

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 21, 2005

Front Page

Front Page

From a common sight to a rare one

G.V.Ramana Rao

WINGED WONDER: A White-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis) kept in the Bombay Natural History Society.

VIJAYAWADA: Where have all the vultures gone? A common sight in the rural areas earlier, they have become a rare sight in just a decade. Ornithologists discovered that there has been a 95 per cent fall in the population of these carrion-feeding birds. These birds are not to be confused with Birds of Prey - the eagles and kites. Vultures seldom attack a living animal, but may put to death the wounded or the sick. The forest department is now making a survey to establish the number of vultures that are surviving in the Andhra Pradesh.

Ornithologist and honorary game ward Mrutyumjaya Rao says the White-backed Vulture (Gyps Bengalensis), King Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), White Scavenger Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) and the Longbilled Vulture (Gyps indicus) were a common sight in Andhra Pradesh. Vultures made big news when a team of scientists attributed a therapeutic drug to the steep decline in their population. Diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug, being given to aged cattle was leading to renal failure in the birds.

Slender-billed

The White-back, long-billed and the comparatively rare slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris) are today on the brink of extinction in some part of the sub-continent.

Mr Rao says the birds were also victims of modernisation. Tractors, auto-rickshaws and public transport systems have phased out the use of the draught animal. This has had an indirect impact on the vulture population, says Mr Rao. He says another reason is a subtle change in the philosophical attitudes of the people. "Some land was left fallow for the aged and sick animals, but now they are sent to the slaughter house, Mr Rao says.

Threat of extinction

Yet another reason posing the threat of extinction is that they are not prolific breeds like the other birds. The vultures lay and hatch only one egg at a time and snakes and civets that relish them often steal them. While there is a need to count the vultures all over the State, Guntur Conservator of Forests D Nalini Mohan has taken the initiative to launch a pilot survey in Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore districts.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page