Chicken waste from meat stalls in Masinagudi Town is being dumped in a disused stone quarry along Singara Road in the Sigur plateau, leading to concerns among environmentalists that wildlife, including critically endangered species of vultures, could be at risk from antibiotics and growth hormones that are used on domestic poultry.
Local residents living in the area said that dhole, leopards and a variety of carnivores are seen in the area, especially at night, as the animals sometimes come to drink at the quarry where rainwater collects when it rains.
D. Nanjan, a goat herder, said that apart from the animals, many species of birds are also seen, including vultures, and said that people do not step out at night for fear of confrontation with animals, especially carnivores that are attracted to the quarry because of the smell of the chicken waste.
A wide array of bird life is also seen at the quarry. S Bharathidasan, secretary of Arulagam, a conservation group, said that Greater Adjutant Storks, an endangered species, has been documented at the site, while black kites, common starling, drongo and egret are also commonly seen there. “Though I have not seen any vultures at the quarry, the possibility that some species do visit cannot be ruled out,” said Mr. Bharathidasan.
Environmentalists and experts said that most vultures do not feed on chicken waste, but that one of the species that do inhabit the Sigur plateau – the Egyptian Vulture, are known to visit garbage dumps.
Though conservationists do suspect that birds digging through chicken waste could potentially be impacted, they said that there need to be further studies done to quantify the effects these drugs have on avian species.
S. Muralidharan, Senior Principal Scientist, Division of Eco-toxicology at the Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History, says that if the poultry waste has antibiotic residues, birds exposed to small doses over a period of time could be affected. “These residues may not necessarily kill the animal, but could have a long-term effect on their health,” he said, adding that there could also be chances of secondary poisoning to other birds. As these conclusions are only conjectural, Mr. Muralidharan said that more research needs to be done on the subject.
“The effect of individual chemicals needs to be quantified. This is a very difficult task as tracking their effect on birds exposed to these chemicals can be a Herculean challenge,” said Mr. Muralidharan, who added that it took experts more than eight years to understand that diclofenac was leading to vultures dying out. “The fact is that we do not know the impact and consequences of chemicals found in chicken waste on these birds,” said Mr. Bharathidasan in an emailed statement.
