COIMBATORE: The Forest Department has formed a 14-member team as part of the declaration of a Vulture Safe Zone (VSZ) around the Moyar Valley, which extends into the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris, the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) in Erode district and the Coimbatore Forest Division.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra has appointed the conservator of forests and field director of MTR as chairman of the committee, along with the DFO of Nilgiris, Gudalur and Coimbatore, the deputy director of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), and the head of the Wildlife Research Division of the Government Arts College in Udhagamandalam, as well as the secretary of Arulagam, an NGO, as members of the committee.
“The committee will be submitting a map by duly marking the vulture nesting and habitat sites, monitoring hotspots for carcasses that would meet out conditions for declaring Moyar Valley as a VSZ, which is the vision for vulture conservation in Tamil Nadu as per the central government’s action plan 2020-2025 on vulture conservation,” Dogra said in his order.
“The primary goal of VSZ is to create a safe environment free from threats, especially the use of toxic veterinary NSAIDs like diclofenac. The committee will also put in place a system for monitoring carcasses, take samples and get these analysed for the purpose of finding out traces of banned NASID drugs and organise checks of retailers with the help of the drug controller for marketing of banned drugs and take further legal action,” said Dogra.
Conservation efforts have led to a thriving nesting population of critically endangered Oriental white-backed vultures in Moyar area of MTR, and their population is being monitored intensively by the Tiger Reserve Management. Additionally, S Bharathidasan, secretary of Arulagam, told the TNIE this is a welcome step and lauded the state government for pioneering vulture conservation.
“Our long-term vision of establishing a VSZ has been partly fulfilled. Our organisation has been advocating for this for a long time. With the help of the forest department, we are already working in as many as 35 villages,” he said. Experts have also urged the state to initiate GPS tagging programmes, which would allow for better monitoring of vulture movements and habitat usage.