COIMBATORE: Here's good news for conservationists: vulture numbers are stable and showing a slow gradual increase. This was revealed by S Bharathidasan, Secretary of Arulagam, an NGO conserving vultures, citing a recent vulture survey
The success of the conservation efforts has been attributed to the joint efforts of the the departments of forest, animal husbandry and drug control as well as public participation.
The population of four species of vultures increased from 150 in 2023-24 to 157 in 2024-25) among which white-rumped vulture was abundant, sources said.
Speaking at the end of the two-day Vulture Conservation Annual Spring meet of partner organisations at Hassanur in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) on Friday, Bharathidasan emphasised the need to further enhance these numbers by continuing corrective measures.
At the meet, C Sasikumar of the Malabar Natural History Society (MNHS) explained various raptor survey methodologies. A Samson of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) discussed vulture surveys and the need to improve survey methodologies, with a particular focus on nest surveys.
Chris Bowden and John Mallord of Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction (SAVE) spoke about scientific research methods, including carcass sampling and GPS tagging.
Vishnudas of Hume's Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology discussed the blueprint for conservation of vultures in Kerala.
All participants received stone art created by conservation artist Santhosh.
"There could be a significant enhancement of the vulture population with increased awareness among animal and drug control departments and cattle owners," Bharathidasan noted.