Ahsan Ali Khan
On Saturday 4th September 2021, The International Vulture Awareness Day was observed in Nagarparkar, Tharparkar District. The awareness day emphasized the conservation of endangered vulture species. The population of vultures in Pakistan has decreased at an exponential rate. It has been observed that some species of vulture have diminished by almost 95 percent.
On the day Afia Salam, who is an environment expert said, “Vultures are equipped with a digestive system that contains special acids that can dissolve anthrax, botulism, and even cholera bacteria,” hence they play an extremely important role in maintaining the ecosystem.
Another environment expert, Naveed Ali Soomro, while speaking on the issue, said that species of vultures have been decreasing for the past 20 years. He quoted “With some species, populations were recorded to have declined by more than 95pc, since early 1990.” Speaking about the factors leading to vulture extinction, he said that the diclofenac drug used by the farmers for the cattle, impacted vultures when they consumed the carcass.
On the other hand, conservationists are pleased to know that the population of vultures has started to increase in Kanchanpur, Nepal. The efforts for conserving vultures have started to yield positive signs with the population of vultures increasing significantly.
The drug diclofenac which was the main cause of deaths in vultures has been replaced by a new drug and diclofenac has been completely banned. The ban on the use of diclofenac, the anti-inflammatory drug, has led to the rise in the vulture population. Studies conducted in Nepal, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan showed that vultures feeding on the carcass with the residues of diclofenac had died due to a heart attack, but now the situation is different and encouraging. The finding of 50 nests in Nepal has suggested the increasing number of birds in the district.
Nepal Bird Conservation’s conservationist Hirulal Chaudhary said, “The development can be taken positively. The bird population had significantly dropped in the past two decades, making the people concerned and disappointed. But its number has now increased from 10 to 200.”
Rajendra Prasad Paneru a writer for the RSS said that “It was challenging to protect the animal from feeding on carcasses treated with diclofenac drugs. Now alternative drug to diclofenac is used for animals and that drug is found to be no fatal to vultures.”
With the elimination of the root cause of the death of vultures, and positive trends in their number, it is expected that the vulture population will soon be revived.
