‘Gujarat leads country in vulture conservation’

One of the biggest challenges to wildlife and ecological conservation today is not sustaining the Asiatic Lion population, but in controlling the rapidly depleting vulture population across the state of Gujarat. While the forest officials’ announcement that Gujarat leads the country in efforts for vulture conservation ushers in relief, activists highlight a counter perspective that the efforts undertaken are not nearly enough.

According to the 2007 census, the vulture population halved to 1,400 from the previous census of 2005. A vulture breeding centre at the Sakkarbaug Zoo has been readied; two feeding sites for the birds in Surat and Mahuva each are operational; constant monitoring of roosting sites is done by committed activists; several awareness campaigns are underway in panjrapole and farmers to stop the use of pain-relieving medicine Diclofenac, and compensation is given to farmers in whose farms vultures roost.

“Despite these initiatives, the avian population is reducing at an alarming rate, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the vultures disappear altogether in another two years,” says Kartik Shastri, assistant coordinator of the Vulture Cell of the Birds Conservation Society of Gujarat (BCSG). He lamented that despite fervent awareness campaigns, people just do not replace Diclofenac with Meloxicam, a painkiller for animals.

A unique concept of a feeding site spread over an area of 300-400 sq meters is being operational in Hazira near Surat, maintained by Surat-based NGO, Surat Nature Club. Here carcasses are brought from a nearby village, where they NGO provides non-Diclofenac medicines for the farmers’ livestock. “Around 50-80 birds visit the site everyday. A similar site is being developed in Mahuva, but it is not yet fully operational. Last week, 50 vultures visited the site after a carcass was dumped there,” said Snehal Patel, a member of SNC.

In Ahmedabad, efforts are under way to develop a feeding site at Dabasa, but each carcass is first claimed by dogs and pigs, before vultures can swoop on it. Moreover, skinning of the carcass by locals is also a serious concern cited by conservationists. “At least 25 vultures were reported injured or dead in city after Uttarayan this year,” says Varun Parikh, a volunteer with BCSG in Ahmedabad.