CHENNAI: In a bid to save endangered species of vultures from extinction, the National Board for Wildlife has approved a new plan that proposes setting up Vulture Conservation Breeding Centres in some States, including Tamil Nadu.
Accordong to the revised plan, a captive breeding centre would come up at the Sigur Reserve Forest Range in the buffer zone of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. The move is crucial for Tamil Nadu as estimates peg the vulture count in the State at a mere 200, predominantly in the Moyar Valley under which Sigur Reserve Forest falls.
About 180 Oriential White-backed Vultures, a critically endangered species, are found here. The numbers of Long-billed Vultures, Red-headed Vultures and Egyptian Vultures have dwindled to double and single digits.
The Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020-25 is a revision of the one released in 2006 to be executed over three years. It was revised after identifying the priority action points and based on inputs given by experts. A vital features is preventing misuse of veterinary non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
‘Contamination of food with drugs hits vultures’
There is a need to prevent the main food of vultures — animal carcasses — from getting poisoned by veterinary drugs, says the minutes of the 59th meeting of the Standing Committee of the wildlife board, held on October 5. New drugs have to go through safety testing prior to commercial release, it adds.
“A system, which automatically removes a drug from veterinary use if found toxic on vultures, with the help of Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), is needed,” reads the minutes of the meeting. KK Kaushal, field director of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, told Express that Sigur Reserve Forest is the last surviving breeding ground for the critically endangered vulture in the State.
“We want to undertake captive breeding at the proposed centre and release them into the wild,” he said. S Bharathidasan, one of the founders of Arulagam and who had worked on vulture conservation for decades, said that contamination of vulture food with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like diclofenac (now banned) is one of the primary reasons for decline in vulture population.
“There are other veterinary drugs which have similar adverse effects on vultures. Besides, persecution by cattle herders through poisoning, carcass unavailability and habitat degradation are other reasons affecting the vultures,” he said.