In order to raise awareness for vulture conservation and educate the public about the threats facing these majestic birds, September 5, 2009 has been designated as International Vulture Awareness Day.
Over 100 organizations from around the world will be participating in International Vulture Awareness Day 2009 (IVAD09), a worldwide event that aims to publicize vulture conservation to a global audience and to bring attention to the work being done by vulture experts.
IVAD09 is also hosting a blog festival – “Blog for Vultures” – starting on September 4 at 19:00 UTC/GMT/Zulu time.
Why is there an awareness day for vultures?
Vultures worldwide are under tremendous threat – and three species of Gyps vulture are now in danger of extinction.
In India, the vulture population has undergone a catastrophic decline from 40 million birds to just 60,000. Nepal and Pakistan also lost nearly 95% of their vultures. The vultures were the victims of widespread poisoning by the use of diclofenac in livestock.
Critically endangered Gyps vultures:
- White-backed/White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis)
- Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris)
- Indian Vulture/Long-billed Vulture (Gyps indicus)
Like the Asian vultures, Namibia’s vulnerable population of lappet-faced vultures (Torgos tracheliotos) also faces poisoning issues. Farmers in the region are continuing to use poison as a means to control livestock predators. Sadly, by fulfilling their important ecological role, the vultures become victims of secondary poisoning by consuming the carcasses of poisoned-filled predators.
According to the IUCN, the lappet-faced vulture population is in decline, mainly due to poisoning by farmers. The birds are classified as Vulnerable – just one category removed from Endangered.
Unfortunately, in Croatia, the desire to take a photo of a vulture can have disastrous consequences:
On the Croatian islands of Cres, Krk, Plavnik and Prvić, protected Eurasian Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus) nest just above the sea on vertical cliffs. Tourists flock to the area in boats, and upon reaching the areas below the nests, they clap and shout in order to startle the birds into taking flight – hoping to photograph these majestic raptors.
Tragically, many of the birds are young and do not yet know how to fly. Once they are frightened from their nests, they fall into the water and drown.
A world without vultures?
Vultures take care of some pretty important ecological business: They keep the environment clean and free of disease.
So important, in fact, are vultures to the ecosystem, that the lack of vultures has even been linked to India’s spread of rabies in humans. Now that vultures are basically absent, dogs and rats have moved up the scavenger hierarchy to feed on carcasses, but since they cannot clean a carcass like a vulture, rotting meat and disease proliferates (the digestive system of a vulture is specially designed to destroy rabies).
The new availability of extra food left behind by the dwindling number of vultures (from 40 million to just 60,000 vultures, due to poisoning) is a having a catastrophic effect on India’s ecosystem. It has led to a population explosion in stray dogs, who are reportedly ‘hunting in packs, thus posing a threat to humans as well as wildlife.’
Helping vultures
The International Vulture Awareness Day 2009 website has published the list of IVAD09 participants (over 100 organizations – yay!), vulture photo galleries, vulture videos, posters, and more.
Vulture Rescue (vulturerescue.org) focuses on Asia’s critically endangered vultures, and features the work of captive breeding efforts.
Vulture Rescue is a collaboration between a large number of conservation and research groups, working together to help solve the vulture conservation crisis.
Vulture rescue’s mission statement is to: ‘Respond to the vulture crisis in Asia by striving to halt vulture population declines and working to minimise their negative impacts on ecological and human health.’
These conservation efforts have recently resulted in the fledging of the first captive-bred slender-billed vulture at the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre in Pinjore.
In Pakistan, Dhartee Development Society, in collaboration with the UNDP Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme has opened a vulture restaurant in Pakistan.
Vulture restaurants serve up the carcasses of cattle that have been monitored by a veterinarian prior to death, to confirm the animals have not been treated with Diclofenac.
I’m looking forward to blogging about vultures over the next several days – and beyond.
Here’s to International Vulture Awareness Day 2009 – what a brilliant idea!
Image source: http://www.flickr.com / CC BY-ND 2.0
About Rhishja Cota-Larson
It is sad to see that these birds are in danger of extinction. They do so much to help keep the environment stable and they are gorgeous creatures. Every time I see one I stop and admire its beauty and majestic size.