Dear Colleagues,

In November 1998, I sent the first Vulture Alert. The response was good and I have received more than 50 letters (all were replied) and my note was circulated all over the world through e-mail. Almost all the Indian newspapers and many foreign newspapers covered the story, some did their own further investigation. The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has decided to establish Indian Vulture Study Group, the details of which can be circulated on request. At present it is an informal Group, mainly interested in exchange of information on Indian vultures.

The decline of vultures, especially the Gyps species, is alarming. I have received shocking reports from all over India. Some in brief are as follows (my comments are given in brackets):

1. Dr. Ram Veer Singh, of WWF-India wrote on 15 December 1998 that in his village in Uttar Pradesh, "villagers in general feel very sad about all of a sudden disappearance of vultures in the area and now realize the importance of the role played by vultures in scavenging the carcasses which otherwise are lying putrefied with foul smell and unattended. The situation is not as bad in Sawai Madhopur (in Rajasthan, where Ram Veer was working).The sighting of vultures is still common. Though, people in the area note a decline in number of sightings. It is difficult to say about the abundance pattern in absence of data over a period of time."

2. Mr. Ramesh Dutt of Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh writes that "vultures have not been seen in Betul and Balaghat districts but are present in Chindwara, Bhopal and Indore. The egg laying time of vultures (presumably Longbilled Vulture) coincides with honey collection by Gonds (a tribe) from rock faces, ledges. The Gonds who collect the honey in October also poach the eggs but this has been going on since time…, so it can not be a major reason for disappearance."

3. Ameen Ahmad, a young active member of BNHS, writes "Longbilled Vulture is one of the four species of vultures in Devarayana Durga state forest, a 44 sq. km patch of forest, 6 km to the east of Tumkur town in Karnataka…. I have had the opportunity to monitor a nesting colony of these beautiful scavengers at DD hills since 1991 until they abandoned it in 1996. The vultures used to nest on the inaccessible cliffs below the Yoga Narasimha Swamy temple. The number of nest was very small, although constant at 8.… Although I am not able to pin point the exact cause, I believe tourism might be one of the major reasons…. More alarmingly, I have not seen even one Long-billed vulture across south Karnataka since 1996. Even my encounters with the White-backed vultures have decreased. I certainly have reasons to believe that even their numbers are decreasing alarmingly. A sad news indeed !"

4. Bakul of Bhavnagar, another BNHS member writes: During 1955 to 1960, I visited eastern part of Bhavnagar every month. There is a bone factory there. In my every visit, near Bone factory I always saw about 10 Scavenger Vultures and 20 or more White-backed. After 1975 not a single vulture is seen near that factory. Near Jawahar Maidan (field)- this place is in the middle of city- there are some tall trees. Some vultures were staying there. I have seen them roosting. People of city were dumping dead dogs in that field. So food and home were nicely situated. This I have seen up to 1980. But today, trees are there and dead dogs and pigs are also available but not a single vulture.

4. Khalid Pasha of the Wildlife Institute of India, working on Gaur in Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh, found dead vultures on waterholes during summer. Most of them appeared sick before dying.

5. Rajat Bhargava, of the Centre for Wildlife and Ornithology, Aligarh Muslim University writes: In January this year (1998) I had gone to Hapur from Delhi, via Pilakhua and returned from Bulandshahr via Dadri. In our full day search in excellent vulture areas we could see 5 White-backed perched in Hapur and not more then 30 in all soaring the sky. In an area about 10 km before Hapur where there was a huge pile of bones with decaying meat, we spotted about 80-100 Egyptian vultures, 200-300 Cattle egrets, 1000-1500 House/Jungle crows and 100 dogs but hardly 10-12 Long-billed and White-backed vultures perched nearby. (Please note Rajat visited perhaps one of the finest vultures areas of India where Long-billed and White-backed were seen in thousands a couple of years ago)

6. Navjot Singh, a student member of BNHS from Patiala in Punjab writes in January 1999: About one and half years ago, vultures were not seen in the skies of my city … in a radius of about 5 km around it but since about two months back, I have again reported their sightings. Nowadays, I am able to see at least 5-10 vultures in a day. I don’t know the reason behind this, but I am really happy to see them again.

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In a carcass processing plant at Korakendra, Bapane, in Vasai taluka, 60 km from Bombay city in Maharashtra, hundreds of White-backed vultures could be seen in 1980s. I visited the area in 1988 and counted more than 300 vultures. Now not a single vulture is seen in that area.

Dr. S. M. Satheesan of the WWF-India claims that vultures have disappeared due to lack of food, and lack of perching and nesting sites (see Down to Earth, July 15, 1999, p. 11). He advocates creating vulture restaurants (see Outlook magazine, 28 June 1999, p. 79). I think, Dr. Satheesan is totally wrong on all the three points: From all over the country, I have received reports that carcasses are lying uneaten by vultures so where is the question of scarcity of food! Actually, villagers were the first to notice the declining vulture numbers when they found that carcasses are rotting. Dr. Vibhu Prakash’s study at Bharatpur (see below) proves that scarcity of food is not the problem. Perching and nesting sites have also not decreased significantly. Just outside WWF office at Delhi, Dr. Parikshit Gautam of Wetland Division, used to see nests of vultures on tall trees growing on Lodhi Road but now they are not there. Tara Gandhi, another very fine ornithologists writes that she does not find any nest near her house (in the sprawling Presidential campus in Delhi). So where is the question of scarcity of perching and nesting sites? Have we cut all the tall trees? Anyway, in the absence of tall trees, Whitebacked Vultures can nest on smaller trees such as Khejri (Prosopis cinerarea). I have seen many nests on Khejri at height ranging from 3-5 metres. Moreover, they can nest on houses. I have seen nests on houses in a small village in Kutch. Vultures, like most birds, are quite adaptable.

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Finally, I would like to share with you the comparative studies on vultures by Dr. Vibhu Prakash, Principal Scientist of BNHS. His paper will be published soon in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Dr. Vibhu Prakash is one of the foremost raptor specialists in India. In the 1980s, he worked in a project of BNHS-US Fish & Wildlife Service at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur. He was enrolled for M.Sc through research but when he submitted his thesis on raptors, both the BNHS and the Bombay University found it so good and exhaustive that it was suggested that he submit it for Ph.D. Presently, Dr. Vibhu is again based at Bharatpur and leading three major projects on raptors, funded by US Fish & Wildlife Service, beside a project on Siberian Crane funded by Ministry of Environment, Government of India.

The following information is based on Dr. Vibhu’s forthcoming paper :Status of vultures in Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan with special reference to population crash in Gyps spp.

Out of the 8 species of vultures reported from the Indian subcontinent 7 are recorded from Keoladeo NP. Only the Bearded Vulture, Gypeatus barbatus is not recorded from the Park. Four species are residents and three altitudinal migrants in the Park. The residents are the White-backed Vulture, Long-billed Vulture, Egyptian Vulture and King Vulture. The Indian Griffon, Himalayan Griffon and Cinereous Vulture are altitudinal migrants. The White-backed, King and Egyptian vultures regularly nest in the Park whereas, the Long-billed nests at the nearest cliffs about 50 km southwest of the Park.

1. White-backed Vulture Gyps bengalensis

A 96% decline in the population was observed over the last one decade. During 1985-86 the highest population of 2000 vultures (density=69/ sq. km) was recorded whereas, maximum of only 86 vulture were recorded during 1998-99 (density=3/ sq. km). The nesting population of vulture also crashed by 95% over a decade. For instance, 363 pairs (nest density=12.17 nest / sq. km) were recorded nesting during 1987-88 but only 150 nests were recorded during 1996-97, 25 nests during 1997-98 and just twenty 20 (nest density=0.68 nest/ sq. kin) in 1998-99. A sharp decline in the breeding success of the vulture was recorded over a decade. The nesting success was recorded as 82 % (n=244) in 1985-86 but its was nil during 1997-98 (n=25) and 1998-99 (n=20).

2. Long-billed Vulture Gyps indicus

It is a resident bird and nests about 50 km south west of the Park. The birds are however seen in the Park through out the year. Their number starts building up from November and the population reaches a peak in March- April. The population of long-billed declined by over 97 % over a decade. A maximum of 816 birds (density=28 birds/sq. km) were recorded during 1985-86 but only 25 birds (.86 birds/ sq. km) were recorded during 1998-99.

During 1985-86, on an average 80 vultures were sighted on a cattle carcass of which 69% were White-backed and 31 were Long-billed. None of the carcasses were observed without vultures. However, during 1998-99, a total of 100 carcasses were sighted from November till May, but 92 % were without any vulture. On an average 19 vultures were sighted on a carcass (n=8), of which 63% were White-backed Vultures and 37% were Long-billed Vultures.

It is a winter migrant to the Park. 25-30 birds were observed wintering in the Park every year. The population has shown a downwards trend over the last decade. Only two birds were observed during 1997-98 and none during 1998-99. Despite availability of food and much reduced competitions from other vultures, the population of this species did not increase but showed a drastic decline. Although Griffon is known to winter at number of places in the Indian subcontinent, the drastic decline in population when food and habitat is available in abundance, could indicate a decline in its over all population.

It is an uncommon winter migrant to the Park. A few juveniles regularly wintered in the Park in 1985-86. No bird has been seen since 1996-97. Every winter up to five individuals are sighted. No birds were sighted during 1997-98 and 1998-99, despite availability of food and habitat in the Park. The intense competition from other vulture species for food was also reduced due to the population crash but no increase in population of the species was observed. It could also indicate decline in the population of the species. Probably a survey in its known range will give a better picture.

The breeding population of this species has remained stable in the Park over the last ten years. 3-5 pairs were recorded nesting during 1987-88, 90-91, 96-97 and 98-99. The vulture is largely a cliff nester and occasionally nests on trees. Absence of its preferred nesting habitat could be a limiting factor for its nesting population in the Park.

The population of Egyptian Vulture has also showed a decline although there is very limited data on their population. Between 350 to 400 vultures were estimated during April 1986, whereas only 100-120 vultures were recorded during April 1998 and 25 vultures during April 1999. The fall in number could be largely because of difference in food availability. There number increases due to the drying up of water as they come to feed on dead fish. However, the low breeding success of the bird is a cause of concern. The breeding success has been nil during the last two years while 50% success was recorded between 1985 to 1988.

It is a resident species and is seen in the Park throughout the year. Fairly stable population of this species is seen in the Park. Over the last decade 4-5 pairs are observed, and 3-4 pairs regularly nest. Very few first year birds are sighted. Perhaps all the young ones disperse out of the Park. The nesting success has been erratic but has been recorded low since 1991.

It is a rare winter visitor to the Park. Three birds were recorded during 1991-92 and were seen through out the year. The bird is a common visitor to western Rajasthan.

To investigate the major causes of decline in the population of Gyps species, the ecological factors, which could have caused major changes in the population, were examined:

1. Food Supply: Every month 20-25 carcasses are seen in the Park with very few or no vultures on them so food was not the limiting factor.

2. Nesting and Perch Site: Most of the large trees where earlier nests were found are still present.

3. Effect of Chemical Pesticides and Insecticides: The breeding failure could, understandably be due to organo-chlorine contamination in the tissue, but cause of adult mortality is still not clear. There have been no observations where large scale deaths of vultures have occurred after feeding on a carcass. The mortality has been sporadic and widespread.

4. Poisoning: There has been no observation on carcass poisoning in and around the Park. No large scale mortality has been observed in vultures after consuming meat from the carcass. There have been instances of village cows dying after deliberately being fed on rodenticide Zinc sulphide by the hide collector. No mortality was seen after vultures fed on the poisoned carcasses. Thus poisoning does not seem to be a major cause of decline in vulture population.

5. Outbreak of Disease: There is a possibility of a viral disease, which has probably caused the widespread mortality in the adults and juveniles. . The birds do appear sick before they die. They perch on a branch of tree, appear drowsy and would frequently dose off with the neck limp and hanging. The vulture would wake up with a start and would pull up the neck. After a while the neck would again go limp and the same sequence will be repeated. The bird would remain at the same place for 4-5 days and would then fall on the ground and die.

6. Calcium Deficiency: Some chick mortality in the country could be due to calcium deficiency. But this needs to be investigated further.

(For full paper, please wait for the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 96(3), 1999. Please do not use data without our permission).

I request the readers of this note to send us information on vultures. We have developed a questionnaire proforma to seek more information. Please write to me if you would like to fill up this proforma. I also seek your comment on the establishment of Indian Vulture Study Group (which is still at a nebulous stage).

There is an urgent need to conduct all-India survey of all vulture species. BNHS has submitted a project to the Ministry of Environment, Government of India but it will take some time to get funds (perhaps a year). We are urgently looking for some grants to at least start collating data. Can you suggest any funding agency or agencies. We require about 2 lakhs (= 5,000 US dollars) to start this preliminary work. There is also a need to start an All-India Coordinated Research Project on Pesticide Poisoning to Wildlife, because we suspect that like vultures, many other species are disappearing. Thirdly, there is an urgent need to campaign against the use of persistent biocides which are destroying our life-support systems. When such common species like vultures can suddenly disappear, what about the rare ones.

ASAD R. RAHMANI

Director, Bombay Natural History Society

Hornbill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road,

Mumbai 400 023, INDIA

Phone: 091 022 2821811

Fax: 091 022 2837615

E-mail: bnhs@bom3.vsnl.net.in (for Director)

bnhs@bom4.vsnl.net.in (for rest of BNHS staff)