Nature’s scavengers: Vultures - 000webhostrels.comxa.com/fullpapers/volume2paper37.pdf ·...

November, 2009Research in Environment and Life Sciences 185

Nature’s scavengers: Vultures

Sonika Kushwaha1, Amita Kanaujia*1 and Dhruvjyoti Basu2

1Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow , Lucknow-226 007, India2Gharial Conservation Alliance, Uttar Pradesh, India

*e-mail: [email protected]

(Received: May 18, 2009; Revised received: September 15, 2009; Accepted: September 29, 2009)

Abstract: The current status of vultures once again highlights the results of human follies. It is evident that the Asian vultures are disappearing faster than the

dodo-and like them a victim of human activities. The toll on the vultures has been enormous. Mortalities have been recorded across many parts of India,

Pakistan and lowland Nepal. They are vanishing from Indian skies at an alarming pace due to a number of reasons. Diclofenac, a widely used medicine for

both humans and livestock of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory group of drugs (NSAIDS) has been identified as the main culprit for the vulture toll. The Indian

Government banned Diclofenac in March 2006. A number of captive breeding centers are being established in India and other countries for the endangered

species.

Key words: Vultures, Breeding, Natural scavengers, Incinerators

Res. Environ. Life Sci.

ISSN: 0974-4908 2(4) 185-192 (2009)

http://www.rels.comxa.com [email protected]

Review Paper

Introduction

In the past centuries man has altered the world he lives

in. The natural effect of all his activities have resulted in the

destruction of some of the animals in a habitat and greatly increased

the populations of other. A recent example of this is the precipitous

decline in Gyps vulture population in India and its neighbouring

countries.There are 22 kinds of vultures which includes 15 types of

Old World vultures and 7 types of New World vultures (Fig. 6).

There are nine species of vultures found in India: King vulture

(Sarcogyps calvus), Cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus),

Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), Himalayan Griffon vulture (Gyps

himalayensis), Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus), Slender-billed

vulture (Gyps tenuirostris), White-backed vulture (Gyps

bengalensis), Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), and

Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus (Ali, 1995; Birdlife International,

2007a,b,c; Gadhvi and Dodia, 2006; Parsi, 2009). It is evident that

the Asian vultures are disappearing faster than the Dodo-and like

them a victim of human activities. They are also highly sensitive to

environmental changes (Houston, 1974). The ecological extinction

of Gyps vultures in India is also leading to further changes in the

species complement of scavengers. Important zoonotic diseases,

such as rabies and bubonic plague, which are endemic within

India and for which dogs (Canis spp.) and rats (Rattus spp.),

respectively, are the primary reservoirs, are likely to increase as

a consequence of the vulture declines (Pain, 2003). Wildlife and

domestic livestock may also be at increased risk from dog and rat-

borne pathogens, including canine distemper virus, canine

parvovirus and Leptospira species bacteria. Vultures probably

also help to control livestock diseases such as brucellosis,

tuberculosis, and anthrax by disposing of infected carcasses

(Prakash, 1999). They come to the rescue of man to dispose of

carcasses when animals die during natural calamites such as

floods, storms, drought and war. By cleaning carcasses of dead

animals, they act as the sanitation department of the natural

world.

In 2006, it was stated that vultures are dying on a big scale

due to diclofenac poisoning. Diclofenac injection is widely used in

cattle and other animals as an effective anti-inflammatory and pain

relieving medication (Fig. 1). When such animals die vultures attack

the carcasses of these animals and the residual diclofenac from

these dead animal tissues causes widespread lethal renal failure in

vultures (Lawate,2006). Identifying the cause of the Asian vulture

decline gives hope to many conservationists working to save these

critically endangered species. This includes Birdlife Partners such

as the Bombay Natural History Society, Ornithological Society of

Pakistan, Bird Conservation Nepal and the RSPB (Royal Society

for Protection of Birds). Other conservation organizations working

hard alongside BirdLife include the Zoological Society of London

(ZSL), and the Peregrine Fund.

Scavengers at a glance

The scavenger’s have bare heads i.e. featherless. This is

again an adaptive feature since they prevent the fouling of feathers

during feeding. The beaks are long and hooked to feed upon the

carcasses (Fig. 2). They are operated by well developed

manidibular muscles and easily tear open the flesh. They tear the

carcass and pick the bones nearly clean. Some vultures have

other adaptations as a result of their feeding strategy.

Vulture’s toes are weak, poorly padded and have only

slightly curved talons (Fig. 3). The toes and tarsi are featherless,

thus helping in quick clean up after feeding. A vulture’s foot looks

more like a turkey’s than a hawk’s. But again, the foot reflect’s the

life-style of the bird. Being scavengers vultures need not catch and


Fig. 1: Diagrammatic representation of Diclofenac effect (source: AFP) Fig. 2: Bare heads with hooked beaks

A B

Fig. 3: Vulture toe

Fig. 4: Bath after meal Fig. 5: Sun basking, after the meal

Kushwaha et al.


kill its prey. So they need to balance themselves while feeding on

carcasses. This is easily achieved by their large feet.

Vultures digestive systems have the unique ability to kill

virus and bacteria present in their food. The acidity in the stomach

is so powerful that it breaks down the meat quickly, before any

pathogens have a chance to infect it. The pH levels in their stomachs

is between 1 and 2 (Houston and Cooper, 1975). That measurement

is comparable to gastric and hydrochloric acid from the human

stomach and is more caustic than acid rain. It is also a higher pH

level than the stomach contents of other carnivorous birds, including

herons and barn owls. That acid inside a vulture’s body can also

be wielded as an effective defense mechanism. Their defensive

vomit is foul-smelling enough to drive away predators. If enemies

approach too closely, the high amount of acid in the vomit is strong

enough to burn them as well (Cristen, 2009).

Vultures have a large wing-span so they can easily soar

or sail which is the most remarkable and highly specialized mode of

flight. It rises without loss of kinetic energy. They use thermals to

soar up at high altitudes.

Urohydrosis defines birds excreting on their legs as a means

of cooling themselves. Vultures urinate on their own legs as measure

Natural scavenging vulture, Gyps indicus

Fig. 6: Classification of vultures ( Ali and Ripley, 1995; Collar et al., 2001)

VULTURES

New World Vultures Order

Falconiforms

Family

Cathartidae

Genera, Species1. Cathartes aura

2. Cathartes burrovianus

3. Cathartes melambrotus

4. Coragyps atratus

5. Gymnogyps californianus

6. Sarcorhampus papa

7. Vultur gryphus

RANGE

Canada to Tierra del

Fuego, Southern South

America

Absent in Madagascar, Ceylon, Malayan Islands or Australia

where herd forming mammals are absent

RANGE

Africa, Asia & Europe

GENERA, SPECIES1. Aegypius calvus

2. A.monachus

3. A.occipitalis

4. A.tracheliotus

5. Gypaetus barbatus

6. Gypohierax angolensis

7. Gyps africanus

8. G.bengalensis

9. G.coprotheres

10. G.fulvus

11. G.himalayensis

12. G .indicus

13. Necrosyrtes monacus

14. Neophron percnopterus

15. Sarcorampus papa

Family

Accipitridae

Old World Vultures

ORDER

FALCONIFORMES


of thermoregulation, allowing evapotranspiration to keep heat away

from their bodies. As an added benefit, they have such strong and

chemically potent urine that kill bacteria or parasite clinging to the

birds feet.

Vultures lack a syrinx (Voice box) so they are generally

silent, but they will occasionally hiss or grunt. Vultures have acute

eyesight. They can see large carcasses from several miles. Since

they locate their food by sight, they cannot find it in dense forest.

The males and females have no morphological differences.

Thus it is very difficult to identify their sexes. Vultures are

Monogamous i.e. they pair up for life. They lay just a single egg

each year. A unique feature is that they take a bath after each meal

(Fig. 4). They do this so that the blood from carcasses does not

stay in their feathers or on their skin, infecting the vultures with

diseases.

At each meal the birds will gorge themselves on up to

300-500 g of carrion per day. Once satisfied and have the crop,

throat and neck are distended, they go for sun basking i.e. relax

back on their tails, wings spread to provide balance and mouth

hanging open (Fig. 5). It will be about an hour before the meal is

digested enough for the birds to take flight once more and the take

off is very labour-intensive involving much running and leaping

across the plains

Economic importance: Vultures have an important role in the

natural environment. They are nature’s disposal squads or

“scavengers”. Vultures provide the society with a number of

‘services’, most notably disposal of carrion. These services have

an impact on human health, economic activity and on environmental

quality.

An increase in uneaten carcasses poses a direct threat to

human health because the carrions provide a breeding ground for

potentially pathogenic bacteria leading to the possibility of direct or

indirect infections and are sources of disease, such as anthrax

(Pain et al., 2003). A fall in the vulture population could result in an

increase in feral dog population (Prakash et al., 2003), which in

turn could increase the incidence of animal bites and rabies among

humans. Increases in other scavenger populations may have

significant socio-economic impacts. Rats, feral cats and other species

may increase in numbers, leading to spread of disease. The spread

of rabies is largely attributable to dog populations, but increases in

prevalence rates of other diseases may be an issue. It shows that

there was a marked increase in the dog population during 1987-

1997 coinciding with the period of decline in the vulture population.

The population has increased further since 1997, with it being

estimated that there were over 29 million dogs in India in 2003. A

vulture consumes an average of 0.5 kg day-1, while a healthy dog

is estimated one fifth of its body weight a week, or about 5 kg. This

implies that one vulture less would increase food availability for 0.7

dogs (Markandya et al., 2006).

Also the loss of vultures might contribute to environmental

pollution (air and water) resulting in the increased incidence of

anthrax and water borne diseases among people. Important

economic impacts of vulture decline include the impacts on the costs

to villagers of disposing of carcasses and to collectors of cattle

bones for the fertilizer industry. This latter is an old trade among

India’s poor; vultures effectively and rapidly clean skeletons of all

soft material and facilitate the bone collector’s job, whilst feral dogs

cannot serve as substitutes to vultures because they only scavenge

choice tissues. Finally vultures, are important for their considerable

cultural and religious significance that some communities attach to

their role of disposing of human bodies. Followers of the minority

Parsi faith depend on vultures for disposal of their corposes,

considering the burial or burning of human remains to defile the

elements (Houston, 1990).The demolishing vulture population has

denied the Parsee population their traditional way of disposing their

dead. The consequential impacts include additional costs of disposal

of remains, example the use by the Orthodox Community of solar

reflectors to hasten decay of the bodies or the creation of “vulture

centres” to enable disposal in keeping with tradition. In Mumbai 8

solar concentrations, amount to Rs. 1.6 million (Markandya et al.,

2006).

In some parts of the country vultures are now so scarce

that cremation is being used as an alternative to this traditional

celestial burial.

Wider environmental impacts may include increases in

scavenger populations other than feral dogs and water pollution

due to the fouling of watercourses by rotting carcasses. Vultures

also help to control livestock diseases such as brucellosis,

tuberculosis, and anthrax by disposing of infected carcasses. The

dying out of the vultures would be an irreplaceable loss of a link in

the food chain (Prakash, 1999).

Captive breeding centres for vultures in India : The Ministry

of Environment and Forest has supported vulture conservation

breeding centres at Pinjore (Haryana), Buxa (west Bengal) and

Rani Reserve Forests (Assam) through the respective State

Governments. Funds have been released to different states (Andhra

Pradesh- 41.00 lakhs, Madhya Pradesh-41.00 lakhs, Orissa- 41.00

lakhs, Gujarat-53.30 lakhs, Jharkhand- 41.00 lakhs, Haryana- 38.00

lakhs and Punjab- 16 lakhs) for vulture conservation during the last

five years.

Pinjore, Haryana: Bombay Natural History Society

(BNHS) (2001) in collaboration with the Haryana Forest

Department established, The Vulture Conservation Breeding

Centre at Pinjore, Haryana. The Pinjore centre has 120 vultures

and The centre is funded by the Darwin Initiative for the Survival

of Species Fund of Government of U.K. (2001-2006) and

supported by RSPB, ZSL and National Birds of Prey Trust, U.K.

(Jatayu, 2002-2003).

Kushwaha et al.


Raja Bhat Khawa, west Bengal: India’s second Vulture

Conservation Breeding Centre was set up in December 2005 at

Raja Bhat Khawa, West Bengal jointly by Bombay Natural History

Society and West Bengal Forest Department. The Raja Bhat Khawa

centre has 76 vultures of three species (white-backed, long-billed,

and slender-billed vulture).

Rani, Assam: the Govt. of Assam in collaboration with the

BNHS, Bombay has established a vulture conservation and

Breeding centre at Rani. The Rani centre has 33 vultures of two

species (white-backed and slender-billed vulture).The objectives

of the project is to have 50 pairs of Vultures for breeding with the

ultimate goal to release than in the wild.

Some active groups for vulture conservation in India:

Besides the captive breeding centres, the Gypsophils are also

playing an important role to stop the Mother Nature’s cleaners

from extinction.

Surat (Gujarat): Vulture conservation project is one of the

major projects started by Nature Club Surat in the year of 2005

(Jatayu, 2002-2003). This project was based on 6 simple and

basic steps like:

� Observation in regions where these birds are found, study

their activities and collect appropriate useful data.

� Check the data and Plan as per the study that what are the

steps to be taken in direction of conservation.

� Act as per the plan and situation to carry out direct and indirect

efforts.

� Check out-put, and make sure that all the efforts putting up by

the volunteers is on the right path.

� Contact experts and take corrective Steps if required as per

their experience.

� Continue above 5 steps during through out the project.

Jodhpur (Rajasthan): Dr. Anil Kumar Chhangani from J.N.V

University, Jodhpur (Rajasthan) is doing extensive random surveys

in about 23 districts of Rajasthan since last 6-8 years. He has been

monitoring nesting sites, making census, recording predation, observing

species interaction and locating seasonal migration in Rajasthan. He

is conserving vultures in their natural habitats through the rescue

programmes, involving the Forest Department as well as the localites.

His team has saved more than 30 long-billed and white-rumped

vultures in the last two years in the study area. He aims for monitoring

of breeding sites to locate the nest fallen chicks for rescue and care

and thus increase the breeding success and conservation.

Bundelkhand (Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh):

Exhaustive surveys are being carried out since 2007 in

Bundelkhand Region by Dr. Amita Kanaujia and Sonika Kushwaha

from University of Lucknow. The study is being carried out with due

permission from the Head Forest Offices of Uttar Pradesh and

Madhya Pradesh. The region stretches over districts of Southern

Uttar Pradesh and Northern Madhya Pradesh. It comprises of

Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Banda and Mahoba in Uttar

Pradesh, and, Sagar, Chattarpur, Tikamgarh, Panna and Damoh

in Madhya Pradesh including parts of Gwalior, Datia, Shivpuri and

Chanderi. The activities are in order to present the overall view of

the vulture situation: to provide the data on status (distribution,

numbers or abundance and threats) of vultures. The study is

tentatively on the following lines :-

� To identify the actual mortality factors responsible for vulture

decline.

� To suggest or find out necessary control measures needed for

the conservation of vultures.

� The study also monitor the remaining wild populations and

lobby for the diclofenac free environment.

� The study aims to evaluate the status, habitat, breeding and

nestling behaviour and feeding habits of vultures.

� Efforts are being made to prevent the disturbance and destruction

of natural habitats aboded by vultures.

� Efforts are also being taken to arrange for safe food for vultures

through vulture restaurants.

Katerniaghat Foundation (Uttar Pradesh): The Foundation

was established on 17th March 2008. It is contributing to conservation

with the support of U.P. Forest Department and its Katerniaghat

Wildlife Division. They started a project for monitoring vulture

population in collaboration with BNHS (Kat’s Eye, 2009).

Besides India, its neighbours, both Nepal and Pakistan

have recognised the crucial role of breeding centres for the

conservation of vultures and centre have been established in both

countries in the last two years. In Nepal the centre has been

established through a partnership of the Department of National

Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), the National Trust for

Nature Conservation (NTNC) and Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN),

with financial support and technical guidance provided by the ZSL

and RSPB. WWF Pakistan with support from The Hawk

Conservancy (UK) has established a breeding centre in Pakistan

(Khan et al., 2008).

Status in Uttar Pradesh

The long-mooted proposal to set up vulture breeding centres

in the state is gathering dust. Kukrail in Lucknow, Katarniaghat in

Bahraich and Chandra Prabha in Chandauli were identified as

prospective places for the centre (The Times of India, New Delhi,

Saturday, January 5, 2008). Vulture species dwelling in Uttar

Pradesh are: Long-billed, Slender-billed, White-backed, King

vulture, Egyptian vulture and Griffon.

Datas from various sources indicate that there are a number

of sites in the state where vultures have been reported to reside.

These include Agra, Etawah, Lakhimpur Kheri (local conservationist),



Name: Gypaetus barbatus (Lammergeier Or

Bearded vulture)

Description: 125 cm, huge, grey and orange raptor

with long wedge-shaped tail

Distribution: Common breeding reasident in high

northern mountains. Also occurs in S. Europe, Africa

and W. Central and E. Asia

Current status: Uncommon

Name: Gyps bengalensis (Oriental white-backed

vulture)

Description: 85 cm, dark, broad-winged raptor

with large white back patch. Tail is shor

Distribution: Globally threatened. Most frequent

in northern wildlife sanctuaries and now very

scarce in towns

Current status: Critically endangered

Name: Gyps tenuirostris (Slender-billed vulture)Description: 80-95 cm, Thin, rather attenuatedvulture, adults have dark bill with pale culmen;black cere; a near-total lack of feathering on theblack head and neckDistribution: Globally threatened.Restricted toHimachal Pradesh, Haryana, west Bengal,northern OrissaCurrent status: Critically endangered

Name: Gyps himalayensis (Himalayan Griffon)

Description: 125 cm, pale raptor with tail short.

Flight feathers are black

Distribution: Common breeding resident of high

mountains. Also occurs in central Asia


Name: Aegypius monachus (Cinereous vulture)

Description: 115 cm, huge, chocolate brown

raptor with a blackish face mark. Short, often

wedge-shaped tail

Distribution: Mainly scare winter visitor to

northern mountains and river valleys

Current status: Uncommon, near threatened

Name: Sarogyps calvus (Red-headed vulture or

King vulture)

Description: 85 cm, large, blackish raptor with

red head and neck

Distribution: Scarce but widespread breeding

resident throughout the lowlands

Current status: Uncommon, near threatened

Name: Neophron percnopterus (Egyptian vulture)

Description: 65 cm, medium sized, dirty-white

raptor with a wedge-shaped tail

Distribution: Fairly common breeding resident

throughout region. Also occurs in S. Europe, Africa

and W. Central and E. Asia

Current status: Fairly common

Name: Gyps fulvus (Eurasian Griffon)

Description: 100 cm, huge, rufous-brown, white

head and neck, dark flight feathers and tail

Distribution: Common breeding resident of western

Pakistan and northern India and Nepal. Also occurs

in S Europe, Africa and W. Central and E. Asia


Name: Gyps indicus (Indian vulture or long-billed)

Description: 90 cm, large,pale brown raptor with

dark flight feathers and short tail

Distribution: Globally threatened. Most frequent

in large wild life sanctuaries

Current status: Critically endangered

Fig. 7: Nine species of vultures found in India [Source: Photographic guide to the birds of India (Grewal et al., 2002)

Kushwaha et al.


Fig. 8: Data of three critically endangered Gyps species (Birdlife Internationa, 2007a,b,c)

Name : Gyps bengalensis

Population estimate : 2,500-9,999

Population Trend : Decreasing

Range estimate (breeding/resident) : 4,917,000 km2

Name : Gyps indicusPopulation estimate : 2,500-9,999



Name : Gyps tenuirostris

Population estimate : 2,500-9,999



Kishenpur sanctuary (Fazlur Rehman, member of assessment

survey), Mahavir Swami Sanctuary, Deogarh in Lalitpur, Jaluan

and Jhansi district. In Deogarh, three species of vultures are residing

at present. These are Sarcogyps calvus (King vulture), Gyps

bengalensis (Oriental white-backed vulture) and Gyps indicus

(L.ong-billed vultures). In Bhagwantpura (District Jhansi) Egyptian

vultures are seen around the slaughter house, however no breeding

site is present (Kushwaha and Kanaujia, 2008, 2009).

Thiry years ago raptor populations in the northern-central

India as a whole and within Delhi in particular appeared to be the

highest in any urban area, world wide (Collar et al., 2001). The

datas of three critically endangered Gyps species (Gyps

bengalensis, Gyps indicus and Gyps tenuirostris) is shown in Fig.

8. Banning of diclofenac and conducting of surveys and research

work is not sufficient to ensure self-sustainability of these populations.

In words of Anil Chhangani captive breeding should not be the only

way to conserve vultures. It is quite certain that a countrywide

rescue programme can save over 100 threatened vultures every

year (Chhangani, 2009). The urgent need is to educate, inform

and involve the localites and children in the plight of rare and

critically endangered species. The involvement of future generation

will surely show positive results.



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