I know I have not posted in over
four months. I have been on a self-imposed hiatus for the usual reasons; busy.
However, the recent onslaught of articles on my Facebook newsfeed about
Vultures dying all over the world has compelled me to come out of hiding. If
any of you follow my blog or know me, gather I am a “just the scientific facts
ma’am” kind of writer but this blog is more emotional with a twist of pleading
for global change.
In India, Pakistan and Nepal,
by 2006 the vulture population had declined 99%, (yep, you read that correctly).
Nearly all the vultures had disappeared due to a veterinary drug called
diclofenac. Because of the cultural importance of cattle in this region, aging
cattle were given this anti-inflammatory drug to relieve pain. When these
cattle died, the carcasses were contaminated with the drug. Vultures began to
disappear rapidly. It took almost two decades for researchers to discover that
the contaminated carcasses vultures were feeding were killing them by kidney
failure; a slow, agonizing death. In 2006, the governments of India, Pakistan
and Nepal banned the use of diclofenac. The recovery of vultures is now in full
intensity and showing signs of recovery (Balmford 2013). Please see, http://www.peregrinefund.org/projects/asian-vulture-crisis
and http://www.save-vultures.org/, to
see what is being done for Asian Vultures.
So all is good? Nope, in
March 2013, the Spanish government made diclofenac available on the European
market. Please see this website to support the ban in Europe and keep updated
on the fight, http://www.4vultures.org/our-work/campaigning-to-ban-diclofenac-in-europe/
Diclofenac is not the only
threat facing vultures. In Africa, vultures are declining for the same reasons,
such as the rhino and elephant, medicinal purposes. Poachers are poisoning,
indiscriminately, carcasses in order to collect the dead vultures to sell on
the black market. Vulture brains and skulls are believed to provide psychic
powers and intelligence (Dimitrova June 24, 2014; Pfeiffer et al. Spring 2014). Africa’s vultures are at risk of suffering the same
fate as their Asian counterparts. Go to, http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0624-dimitrova-vulture-bird-market.html,
to read the full article.
Vultures are charismatic and
intelligent birds as well as play an important role in ecosystems and cultures
globally. These birds are often deemed disgusting and do suffer from an image
problem (Ravindran 2013); however, vultures are really cool birds! I have
known a few vultures in my life and these characters have charmed the average
visitor as well as the royalty of Great Britain. So, my plea is wherever you
are in the world, do your part to help vultures! Give your time and money to
organizations that are fighting for vultures or learn what you can do, as an
individual, not to add to the decline of these wonderful birds.
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| "Delectable" entertains herself at the International Centre for Birds of Prey (www.icbp.org) by handing her feathers to visitors in order to trick them to put their fingers through the wire of her aviary. |
Literature Cited
