Vultures: Environment's Unsung Heroes
A linguistics tragedy occurs for those working in conservation every time lines like human faced vultures and acting like vultures are used to convey spiteful traits in birds that by design act as our environments unsung heroes. Copyrights WWF - Pakistan
By Fatima Arif
The opening page of Arundhati Roy’s much awaited and extensively reviewed latest novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness has the following lines:
“...white backed vultures, custodians of the dead for more than a hundred million years, have been wiped out.
Not many noticed the passing of the friendly old birds. There was so much else to look forward to.”
Indeed not many noticed the passing of these birds in our part of the world. In fact given all the negative connotations attached to them, many considered it good riddance. The state of these birds is sort of a symbolic representation of how humans in their superiority complex, create an environment that stimulates the cycle of their own troubles.
A linguistics tragedy occurs for those working in conservation every time lines like ‘human faced vultures’ and ‘acting like vultures’ are used to convey spiteful traits in someone. It is ironic that these notions define birds that by design act as our environment’s unsung heroes.
Vultures are ecologically important because they consume dead animals and clean the environment. The white backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), the specific species that Roy refers to in the opening page, once commonly occurred in plains and hilly regions and was regarded as the most common vulture species in the Indian subcontinent. It was frequently spotted in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, as well as Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and southern Vietnam.
The population of the white-backed vulture has declined by up to 95 % in Pakistan, India and Nepal since the early 1990s, and it is now classified as critically endangered - just one step away from becoming extinct.
The decline of the white backed vulture is regarded as an un-precedent for any bird species.
Cause of this destruction?
Diclofenac Sodium, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and other drugs like Ketoprofen and Aceclofenac used in livestock, are the main cause of mortality, causing kidney failure in vultures.
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Longbilled vultures at Nagar Parker. Copyrights: WWF-Pakistan
Vultures in Pakistan:
Pakistan is home to eight species of vultures. Two of these species, the white-backed vulture and the long-billed vulture are critically endangered. The white-backed vultures population in the wild is now limited to Nagar Parker and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, while the long-billed vultures stronghold in the country is Nagar Parkar only.
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Longbilled vultures at Nagar Parker. Copyrights: WWF-Pakistan
Contrary to myths:
Vultures are social birds. In the good old days, they were known to gather by the hundreds and thousands to roost. Their social life is not limited to their own sub-species but extends to other vulture species as well. They are found in forest trees lining rivers and in big trees around the proximity of towns and villages. Contrary to local myths, vultures are well adapted to live cordially in close proximity of humans.
They are extremely loyal birds and prefer to stay with the same mate for life and usually don’t pair again if a mate dies. Their breeding season starts from October to March. Both parents take part in the incubation and grooming for their chicks. One pair lays one egg per season, making nests and using the same nest again and again. Some species also nest in cliffs such as the Griffon vulture or the Long-billed vulture, however, these species also sometimes build their nests in trees.
White backed vultures at Changa Manga Centre. Copyrights: Fatima Arif
Nature’s design:
Vultures have a keen eyesight due to the relative size of the eyeball in proportion to their head. Their eye muscles are designed for rapid focus with high resolution of the retina with depth perception.
They use their sharp, hooked beaks for tearing meat and have relatively weaker legs and feet. Their hind toes are small since they are not used for capturing prey.
These birds can digest meat in any stage of decay, and withstand diseases that would kill any other creature. They can eat rotting flesh containing anthrax, botulism, and cholera bacteria, which are destroyed in the stomach. Most vultures do not have feathers or light feathers on their head and neck which enables them to dip their heads into dead animals’ body when feeding without getting dirty.
White backed vultures at Changa Manga Centre. Copyrights: Fatima Arif
Saving vultures, an investment for our future:
In Changa Manga, the community remembers a time when the white-backed vultures were thriving in the area. Elders tell stories of a time when they never had to worry about managing their dead livestock, all they had to do was leave it out in the open and the vultures would consume the carcasses. There was no danger of the spread of foul smell or disease. However, the current scenario is the opposite. Now they worry about the spread of disease as wild dogs have taken the place of the natural scavengers but they are not a sustainable substitute. The only population left in the area, is in WWF-Pakistan’s Vulture Centre, where they are trying to retain their population.
Still think saving vultures are not for our own benefit?
