CHENNAI: A synchronised vulture population estimation was carried out in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala for the second time and the results show a remarkable increase in numbers. The ground teams were able to count 320 individuals, compared to 246 during the last census.
Tamil Nadu continues to remain the preferable nesting and foraging ground for these critically-endangered scavenging birds. As per the census data, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) recorded the highest vulture population of 78 in the entire landscape, followed by Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve - 70, Bandipur tiger Reserve in Karnataka - 65 vultures, and Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary - 51.
There is a sizable population in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve and also Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple Tiger Reserve. The Nellai forest division in Tirunelveli is the only place where four numbers of Egyptian vultures were sighted.
Five vulture species are found in the landscape, of which the most prominent one is White-rumped vulture that accounted for 217 of the total population of 320. Moyar valley in MTR is the prime nesting habitat for vultures.
The two-day synchronised census was conducted on December 30-31. Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests Department, has attributed the success to some of the initiatives the State government had undertaken in the last two years.
"In 2022, Chief Minister MK Stalin has set-up a State Level Committee for Vulture Conservation. This committee headed by Chief Wildlife Warden has worked on enhancing food sources, protecting tree cover on which these vultures build their nests and banning drugs like Diclofenac that are found to be toxic to vultures. It is now heartening to see our all collective efforts reaping rich dividends. The ground teams tell me for the first time, a healthy number of vulture nests were discovered during the census," Sahu told TNIE.
The State has banned use of Diclofenac medicine for cattletreatment through the Director of Drugs Control. This medicine is a major cause of decline invulture population.
Multiple raids were conducted at various places in Tamil Nadu and 104 manufacturers, sellers of multi-dose Diclofenac have been prosecuted for sale of the banneddrug. Regular inspections of pharmacies are being done.
Chief Wildlife Warden Srinivas R Reddy said the forest department was working on declaring a few of the prime nesting sites as "vulture safe zones". "All three States have agreed to conduct the census every year. This will generate good baseline data and tell us whether there is any need for further management interventions."
To a query, Reddy said white-rumped vulture, which is the commonly observed species, continues to remain under stress, especially in few traditional nesting sites like Siriyur in Mudumalai, owing to loss of a particular tree cover --- Terminalia arjuna.
"This species builds its nests on this particular tree, whose cover has reduced dramatically due to various reasons. We have given a research project to the Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation to deep-dive into the issue. Based on their report, we will take steps to increase 'nesting' tree cover," Reddy said.
MTR Deputy Director P Arun Kumar told TNIE a record 68 White-rumped vulture nests were found in MTR alone during the census. During the previous exercise in February last year, only 27-30 nests were recorded.
"I believe the primary reason was our decision to facilitate vultures to scavenge on animal carcasses. In the last one year, 8 elephant and gaur carcasses were made accessible. One elephant carcass can provide food for the entire vulture population of the area for 10-15 days. Elephants usually die under a canopy cover, we then move the carcass, after the postmortem, to an open area. This small intervention made a big impact."
S Bharathidasan, member of the State-level Vulture Conservation Committee and co-founder of NGO Arulagam, said: "Sathyamanagalm is turning out to be an equally potential area for vulture population. For the first time, during the last census in February, we found a few vulture nests. This census shows the population in STR was on par with MTR. The efforts being taken in MTR should be emulated across the State so that vultures will find new sites for nesting. There are potential areas in Annamalai Tiger Reserve and Megamalai. If the vulture population is confined to MTR alone, we are always running a high risk of species extinction in the event of any disease outbreak or other disasters."