They aren’t the most beautiful of Earth’s creatures, but conservationists are determined to save these scavengers from extinction anyway. We’re talking about vultures, of course. In many cases, human action is to blame for their decline.
Catastrophic declines in India
National Geographic News reports that several species of Asian vultures may disappear completely within ten years. Among the species at risk are oriental white-backed vultures. Just twenty years ago there were tens of millions of them, but now researchers in India believe there may only be 11,000 white-backed vultures left.
Researchers believe that the use of the veterinary drug diclofenac, given to livestock in India as an anti-inflammatory, may be a major cause in the vultures’ decline in that region. Vultures that eat the carcasses of diclofenac-treated cattle may be prone to kidney failure. While the drug was banned in India in 2006, many people continue to use it due its low cost and long shelf life.
Namibian vultures’ dangerous diet
Asian vultures are not the only threatened vulture species. In November 2007, NATURE’s “The Beauty of Ugly” featured another species of vulture facing serious declines. The Cape Griffon vulture (pictured), characterized by its beige feathers and naked, blue-gray neck, has gained the attention of Namibia’s Rare and Endangered Species Trust (REST). Researchers there say the Cape Griffon vulture is dying due to dietary insufficiencies related to a decrease in wild cattle stocks.
In addition, Namibian livestock owners sometimes poison the remains of dead cattle to get rid of jackals and other predators that prey on their livestock. “Numbers are security, so they will often wait until there are hundreds of birds to begin eating,” Maria Diekmann of REST told NATURE. “The problem is that if a carcass is poisoned you can kill 50 to 500 birds at once. I cannot think of any other species that this is possible with, and the Asian vulture crisis — 10 million birds dead in just over 10 years — has proved this.”
REST is outfitting the vultures with satellite collars to monitor their flight, breeding, and feeding patterns. They are also engaging with local communities to increase the awareness of the dangers associated with poisoning livestock carcasses.
For more information on Cape Griffon vultures and other charmingly grotesque creatures — like a mole with 22 fleshy tentacles on its nose — visit “The Beauty of Ugly” at NATURE Online.
