Have you ever watched the majestic vulture soaring across the blue skies? Or floating on currents of air, scanning the earth for carrion? These birds of prey with their massive wings, which span anywhere between six and 10 feet were revered from ancient times for their important role in the circle of life. September 5 is Vulture Awareness Day. Chris Bowden, Globally Threatened Species Officer & SAVE (Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction) Programme Manager says “Vultures across the globe are suffering serious problems. They play an important role in keeping the environment clean. The sharpest declines in the vulture population has been in India. I believe the main cause for this is the veterinary drug, Diclofenac.”
The decline in the vulture population globally is a dramatic wildlife story which receives little public attention. The statistics are startling and the impact is enormous.
Vasanth Joshi, an award-winning bird photographer, says, “International Vulture Awareness Day aims to educate the reluctant public about the critical role of this bird in the well-being of the environment. As they are traditionally perceived as representing death and decay, conservationists involved in preserving their numbers, have faced an uphill battle in fund-raising efforts.”
Joshi says the Government of Karnataka has done “excellent work in creating and protecting vulture park in Ramanagar”. People can see the park from below and have no physical access, in order to protect the vultures and their nests, he adds. The key role of the vulture in signalling the presence of a carcass to other scavengers, prevents contamination by pathogens and helps keep nature free of disease.
“At one point of time they were the birds of prey with a largest number in terms of population in the sub continent. I remember in the ’90’s, when I had a casual interest in the birds, I had no idea about binoculars and the easiest way to identify vultures in flight was to look above the black kites, as they always flew higher than the kites. Over the years I found that while the black kites numbers were growing, the berth in the higher level of sky was getting emptier,” states Mohit Aggarwal an avid birder.
Swaroop Bharadwaj from Hoskote recalls, “I remember seeing vultures in flocks of fifties and hundreds in the ’90’s. They used to feed on carcasses in the outskirts of Hoskote. They are such huge birds, that they are called rana haddu in Kannada, which translates to big captors or bird of prey.” You can log on to save-vultures.org for more on these majestic birds.
