Protect Moyar valley, the home of critically endangered Gyps vulture
Moyar valley or Maayar (invisible river) valley extends from Gudalur through the core area of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. This entire stretch of nearly 85 km is a wildlife haven and important biome in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, sheltering several vital species like tiger and elephant and the critically endangered Gyps vulture. It is the only region in peninsular India where you have the biggest nesting colony of Gyps vultures in the wild.
None of the other southern states can boast of being such a good breeding ground for these birds. Being rich in wildlife and having a viable prey-predator population, the entire stretch of Moyar has plenty of wild kills and natural deaths of wildlife from Moyar village to Bhavanisagar. This provides a stable food-chain to nature’s scavengers, simply because these carcasses are mostly free from NSAIDs and other poisonous chemicals.
Another reason for very little traces of NSAIDs in the carcasses is that only a few tribal hamlets dot this wilderness area with fewer domesticated cattle since the late 1990’s. Cattle carcasses are the main source of food for vultures in the northern parts of India and use of NSAIDs among those who raise cattle heads has affected the population of the scavengers in that region unlike here. There have also been a few isolated cases of tribals and villagers in Moyar valley poisoning wildlife owing to intrusions near dwellings. But, these hardly pose any serious threat to the vultures.
In the 2018 Save Vultures Population in Southern India (SVPSI) symposium held in Udhagamandalam, participants from states of Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Kerala, and Karnataka made presentations which showed that the nesting population of vultures was very low in their states, when compared to the Moyar valley.
The recently concluded Synchronised Vulture Survey 2024 (on Dec 30 & 31, 2023) in the valley indicates a rise in number of birds against the earlier figures in February 2023. The number of White Rumped vultures rose from 80 to 93; Long Billed vultures from 12 to 28; and Red Headed vultures from 5 to 15. Only, Egyptian vultures went to 0 from 2, but four birds were sighted in Tirunelveli division (outside the Moyar valley).
These are the resident vultures of the Moyar valley. Migrants such as Himalayan and Cinereous vultures were not seen in December (last survey). However, my regular surveys since 2014 till 2019, when the Moyar valley was under Coimbatore division, indicated that the number of vultures constantly hovered around 225.
This covers the entire valley including Mudumalai and Satyamangalam Tiger Reserve. In my opinion, the approximate population has to be arrived at based on the number of active nests and a percentage of juveniles of previous years and not merely based on sightings, since vultures use the entire Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve for foraging.
According to elders among tribals living along the valley, the region has remained a favourite of the vultures owing to the existence of cattle pens (‘patti’ in local parlance) for centuries till early 1990s. These served as a great source of food to these scavengers and their numbers remained high.
The nest count in Moyar valley during the survey clearly established the increase in number of active nests in December against February. The earlier study put the number of nests around 45 which went up to over 55 in December. My regular surveys from 2014 to 2019 indicated that the number of nests in this wilderness is around 50.
However, there used to be a shift in pattern with the birds changing their nesting locations, thus making it difficult to locate new sites. A classic case was the nesting at Thoppahalla. In 2013, 2018 and 2021, two or three nests of White Rumped vultures were spotted against none during other years.
Observations and statistics drive home a point that the valley, passing through two protected areas and adjacent to Bandipur, has great scope to nurture the stable population of these birds, provided it is not disturbed by fanciful ideas and wrong methods of management and a great niche to practise insitu conservation. Ensuring the birds access to natural carcasses, removal of invasive species like Prosopis or Lantana, restoring the original park-like jungle and regular monitoring of nest sites and population surveys are indispensable
Wildlife haven
The 85-km stretch is a wildlife haven in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, sheltering several species like tiger and elephant and the critically endangered Gyps vulture.
S Chandrasekaran
Footnote is a weekly column that discusses issues relating to Tamil Nadu
S Chandrasekaran is a vulture reserarcher, freelance naturalist and author of ‘Kalukugalin Kaadu’.