Shunned by many as symbols of death and ghoulish desolation, vultures could not really hope to be the centrepiece of a conservation campaign. Even deep mythological links in Hinduism, as in the Ramayana , have not staved off their precipitous decline over the decades in India.
Their importance to ecosystems has, however, been recognised and spurred a major conservation effort, with research scientists, forest officials, conservation agencies, non-governmental organisations and bird lovers across continents joining forces to raise their numbers.
One NGO behind the effort to save vultures based in Tamil Nadu, Arulagam, focuses on changing public attitudes towards these ‘sanitary workers’. It is this story of revival, of an often unloved group of birds found in the western mountains, gorges and valleys and neighbouring plains, that conservationist S. Bharathidasan narrates in his bilingual English-Tamil book, In Search of Vultures .
There is no clear picture of how many vultures remain in various parts of the country, including the south. In fact, the State of Indian Birds 2020 report gives the current trend for the birds as a ‘strong decline’ for the Egyptian, red-headed, white-rumped and Indian vultures, and ‘moderate decline’ for the cinereous and bearded vultures. The slender-billed vulture with a restricted range is listed as ‘data deficient’ while for Himalayan and Griffon vultures, current trends are ‘uncertain’. This makes conservation work of the kind pursued by Bharathidasan and Arulagam critically important.
The author, who prefers to call vultures ‘Paaru Kazhukukal’ (rock-living raptors), rather than ‘Pinanthinni Kazhukukal’ (carrion-eating eagles) has struggled to overcome two major barriers to conservation pursued by his NGO, mainly in a 100 km area of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve. The first was to change the public perception of vultures as loathsome carrion feeders. Simultaneously, it had to overcome resistance from farmers and the pharmaceutical industry to the ban on veterinary painkillers that affect the birds. Drugs such as Diclofenac and Ketoprofen, when given to cattle, render their carcasses toxic for the birds. The disastrous impact of Diclofenac on vulture populations, causing kidney failure and mass die-offs, is well-recorded.
Culture, myth and science
With no charismatic values, and not much appreciation of either their environmental role or robust digestive system as scavengers, vultures do need a fresh introduction. Bharathidasan brings them to life with this basic guide, featuring bright full plate images of the species encountered in India and those frequently seen in Tamil Nadu (the white-rumped, long-billed, Egyptian and red-headed vultures are commonly sighted and the cinereous, Himalayan Griffon and Eurasian Griffon vultures only sporadically in the State). The other species sighted in the country are slender-billed and bearded vultures.
The story gets particularly absorbing when the exploration harks back to ancient Tamil literature and Hindu mythology. Bharathidasan recounts the references to vultures in Sangam literature, including the Akananuru, Purananuru, Pathitrupathu, Ainkurunuru and Natrinai . The interested reader looking wider will find, for instance, that the Purananuru mentions vultures, crows, owls and pokuval birds gathering in burial grounds at night, amidst wandering ghosts.
There is also the famous vulture, Jatayu of the Ramayana , whose legend touches places in Tamil Nadu such as Thiruputkuzhi (Kanchipuram district) where the valiant bird is said to have been buried, and Arugankulam (in Tirunelveli) where its last rites were held. Artistic imagery often shows Rama cradling a mortally wounded Jatayu.
Bharathidasan also touches on cultural references to vultures in ancient Egypt, Christianity, Islam and Mesopotamia and in archaeology.
Spectre of loss
The contemporary sobering reality is that two vultures that regularly came to feed at the well-known Thirukkazhukunram temple in Chengalpattu district stopped appearing after 1994, causing considerable lament among — and losses to — the local residents. Whether there were too few vultures over the decades to survive modernisation or there were no more dedicated patrons, the episode drives home the spectre of loss of a species.
It is a long road ahead for Arulagam, Bharathidasan and the many other organisations such as the Bombay Natural History Society, Malabar Natural History Society and Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction (SAVE) working to conserve vultures. Public support builds momentum to save the birds in the wild and reduces the tendency among special interests to seek judicial recourse to delay conservation action.
Diclofenac, the identified culprit drug, has been banned for veterinary use for years, but human-use formulations continue to pose a challenge. Other drugs such as Ketoprofen (banned in Tamil Nadu and later by Bangladesh, according to the conservationist), Aceclofenac, Nimesulide, Flunixin, Carprofen and Analgin continue to pose a threat. Recently, SAVE said Tolfenamic acid was found to be a safe veterinary painkiller with no threats to vultures, following a similar finding with Meloxicam earlier.
The quest to revive vulture populations now relies on innovative captive breeding techniques that use biology to raise numbers — vultures are slow breeders, and the birds have been induced to lay a second egg quickly by shifting the first for artificial incubation and nursery-raising of the chick.
This arduous road shows that available natural breeding pairs in wild areas need the highest protection. Putting toxin-free cattle carcasses from farms out in the open, particularly around vulture distribution areas is one form of support. Bharathidasan’s book dispels common myths and makes an earnest appeal for the preservation of these much misunderstood birds.
In Search of Vultures; S. Bharathidasan,Kalamkriya.
The reviewer is a Chennai-based journalist.
