Bandipur, Nagarahole account for 355 vultures, reveals survey

Bandipur and Nagarahole tiger reserves recorded the presence of at least 355 vultures during the two-day synchronized vulture survey held on February 25 and 26.

This was the first-of-its-kind survey conducted by the Forest departments of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in association with the Mysuru-based Wildlife Conservation Foundation.

Bandipur reported 247 vultures including 169 white-rumped vultures, 43 Red-headed vultures, 34 Indian vultures and one Egyptian vulture. Volunteers and department staff at Nagarahole sighted 108 vultures including 60 white-rumped vultures, 34 Red-headed vultures and 14 Indian vultures.

India has nine species of vultures in the wild out of which South India earlier recorded four species and fortunately all four were recorded in Bandipur during the survey.

Vultures play an important role by scavenging on carcases of animals and thanks to their highly corrosive digestive system they can digest all types of pathogens including viruses, and bacteria that cause anthrax, cholera and other infectious diseases.

Speaking to DH, Bandipur Tiger Reserve Director Ramesh Kumar said the vultures were spotted in all the ranges of the tiger reserve and were equally distributed. “We had marked 40 points that could likely have the presence of vultures and to our great satisfaction the 36 volunteers and 84 field staff sighted the vultures in 24 points,” he said and added that they also found nesting and roosting sites of the scavenging bird.

The Nilgiri biosphere was considered one of the most important sites for the vultures in the early 90s. However, their numbers started dwindling in the late 1990s and early 2000 due to the use of Diclofenac (NSAID) an anti-inflammatory drug which was administered to cattle as a pain killer. The drug was banned by the Union government in 2003 taking into consideration the importance of vultures.

“There was no baseline data on the presence of vultures in wild and the synchronized survey will give a starting point for future surveys,” said Ramesh and added that there has been a steady increase in the number of vultures after banning Diclofenac.

Wildlife Conservation Foundation’s Rajkumar Devaraje Urs said the Nilgiri biosphere reserve serves as the breeding location for these critically endangered species, and WCF urges both central and state governments to create this as a vulture-safe zone and establish it as a conservation breeding centre.