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Birdwatchers rock to rising vulture numbers
KATHMANDU, MAY 23 -
A team of ornithologists on Sunday reported eight White-rumped Vultures — one among the three critically endangered species — in Dadeldhura, a district where their sighting was rare.
In districts including Palpa, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi and Kaski, local residents have reported sighting nestlings of these endangered birds of prey in the past few months. Conservationists are happy that the vulture population is rebounding in the country.
“The sighting of nestlings in different places by the locals is an indication that the habitat of the endangered species is improving of late,” said Ornithologist Hem Sagar Baral. Early this month, seven vultures were spotted near Babiya.
According to Baral, the ban on diclofenac, an
anti-inflammatory drug used to treat livestock, by the government in 2008 was crucial to protecting these scavengers in their natural habitat.
Vultures eating the carcasses of animals treated with diclofenac died of kidney failure. The banned drug, smuggled in through the porous Nepal-India border, is still in use. The ornithologist demanded urgent monitoring of the sale of drugs in the
market. Initiatives taken by the government, Bird Conservation Nepal and stakeholders such as Vulture Breeding Centre in Sauraha, Vulture Restaurants in Nawalparasi, Pokhara and Palpa have contributed to the growing number of vultures.
Meanwhile, the government has come up with Vulture Action Plan 2009, aimed at reviving decimated population of vultures in the country.
Slender-billed Vulture, one of the three critically endangered species, has, however, not been spotted in the country for the last couple of years.
According to a study, this species was found in around 50 pairs two years ago and were thousands in number two decades back. “We suspect that the
population of this species has reached a difficult turning point,” Baral said.
Nepal is home to eight species of vultures.
Posted on: 2010-05-24 07:37
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