Asian Vulture Crisis--Conservation Projects
12 Jun 08
Goal:
Help prevent the extinction of critically endangered Gyps vultures in South Asia.
Vultures in the Indian subcontinent have for centuries been icons of devotion, art, and culture, and have prospered for millennia throughout the region. Vultures play key roles in carrion removal, and thus, prevention of disease. Rapid action is needed in India, Nepal, and Pakistan, where three species of Gyps vultures are on the verge of extinction.
In 2003 our Asian Vulture Crisis Project found that a veterinary drug called diclofenac was responsible for the sudden death of Oriental White-backed, Long-billed, and Slender-billed Vultures. India, Nepal, and Pakistan outlawed the use of diclofenac in 2006 but our seventh consecutive year of monitoring shows vulture populations still in decline across the sub-continent, indicating a continued exposure to this pharmaceutical toxin.
In India, populations of Oriental White-backed Vultures have dropped by 99.7% since 1990. Our studies show an even worse situation in Pakistan: from more than 2,500 pairs in 2000, none bred there in 2007. Loss of these scavengers has far-reaching ecological, economic, cultural, and public health effects.
Our Asian Vulture Population Project has become an important information resource on the declining numbers and distribution of vultures. Data is added annually, with material collected in 2007 by 31 individuals and organizations from more than 100 sites, including our own survey teams working in India and Pakistan.
|
| |
|
