Vulture Conservation: The return of ‘Jatayu’

They know the wind story, they control the paths in the air. These hungry pilgrims arrive to pay their respect to the deceased and clear them away in matter of minutes. These buff coloured angels fall from the heaven – The Sky Divers Of Death. At first, they are shadowy but soon become voracious. This is a story of an ultimate anti-hero, who are possibly in most trouble. India lost millions of them and created a void in earth’s roof…the loss which is irreversible and the void which can never be filled.

Hero or Anti-hero?

Kevin Carter’s iconic photograph of a starving Sudanese girl, who collapsed on her way to a feeding centre while a vulture waited nearby for her to die, will always remain controversial because of the unintended suspense it created. Both the child and the vulture are still, a throbbing stillness which makes the viewers desperate for a second frame. Logically, the photograph suggests 2 possibilities- either the vulture feasted on the child ( which for majority of viewers was certain) or it did not. Carter won the Pulitzer prize for his photography in 1994 and committed suicide 3 months later. The outrageous public threw comments on his photography calling him an another vulture behind the lens.

Keeping aside the controversies, we all are familiar with the famous epic – Ramayana, which deals with Lord Ram (an incarnation of God Vishnu) and his exile with his beloved wife Sita. In this exile, Ravana abducted Sita and Lord Ram gathered an army of apes in search for her. Many characters featured in this epic made their contribution in search for Goddess Sita. One such character which played a key role in accompanying this search has now itself become a subject of search for this world.

The character which is of most concern for this blog is Jatayu– The vulture King or Giddharaj. The tales of legendary sacrifice and courage of this bird has now faded. The sharp decline in their population is an unarguable fact which remained unnoticed till late 1990s. Sustainability of ecosystem lies in redemption of each link of nature’s inbuilt food chain. The aim of this blog is to evoke awareness about the need to conserve Vultures- The nature’s Cleanser.

Vulture Culture

In ancient Egypt, Queen Cleopatra is often depicted carrying a staff adorned with a vulture’s head- a symbol of wisdom. For the Egyptians, vultures were deities, emblems of motherhood, giving life and then later taking it back. Persians accorded them royal status because of their size and the elegance with which they glide, and the Romans used them to represent military strength.

The Egyptian Vulture was also considered to be a good bird in India. There is a story about two birds that visited the temple of Thirukkalukundram (hill of sacred vultures) daily for centuries: they would appear at 11 o’clock in the morning, and were ceremonially fed sweet rice and other delicacies by the priests. According to a myth, the two birds used to be sages cursed by Shiva to live as vultures, and were visiting the temple in penance. Egyptian vultures used to be rather common in India; what makes this case so special, however, is that it was always a pair of vultures that would visit the temple – never more.

Disposing the dead by exposing them for excarnation is a funerary practice of zoroastrian believers in India. Parsee, a small community in India, with its major population living in Mumbai follow the zoroastrian faith. Following this tradition, a corpse cannot be buried, cremated or submerged in water and is considered impure. Instead, a form of sky burial is followed in which the dead are carried by the corpse-bearers and placed on the top of a sacred structure called “Tower of Silence”. This is the place where human corpses are offered to vultures or Dakinis (equivalent to angels). This form of burial reflects their basic belief that neither the soil nor the aqua should be contaminated by the dead but should remain pure. The belief holds a principle of keeping the Earth free of diseases. A similar death ritual is followed by Tibetans.
However, the continuous decline in vulture population has had an evident impact on rituals of these communities which, today has become a subject of concern.

Darwin called them ‘Disgusting’?

Vultures are disgustingly ugly, are the ultimate antihero and something that draws us to them are sort of weird morbid facts related to them. Around the world, there are 23 vulture species, found in all continent except Australia and Antarctica. They are mostly classified as the old world vultures and the new world vultures. Although, they are not closely related, but are connected through evolutionary status. While, the old world vultures are found in Asia, Europe and Africa, the new world vultures are specified to North and South America. The new world vultures are slightly smaller than the old world vultures. Vultures are large raptorial bird, who generally come in groups. A group of vultures is called a venue. The eurasian black vulture, however, doesn’t share its meal with any of its fellow friends. Its the largest bird of prey in Europe; ten kilograms of fury which doesn’t like to eat entrails, unlike the Griffon vultures. It prefers clean red meat without hairs or bones. Being dominant in size, brings the authority to scare and shoo all the other small birds.

The tiny Egyptian vulture with a wing span of only 180 cms, have migrated to Africa from its family nest in Portugal. Using thermal updrafts, they stay aloft for hours in the sky and upon arrival, he finds himself near the bottom of pecking order. Fortunately, what he lacks in size, he makes up for, in intelligence. Using the large rocks, he smashes the ostrich’s egg and gets his well earned meal.

Vultures are perfectly build for what lies ahead. Unlike other birds, they have no hair on their head, and many have bare neck. This simple adaptation allows them to stick their head into the nasty areas crawling with parasites and ticks. Heavy weights with stronger beaks have their own advantage. Vultures beak is a mechanical man. These strong hooked beaks have sharp edges that can tear even the thickest skin open, while some beaks can even break bones. Adding to their rigidity and tolerance, their uniquely corrosive gut can handle bubonic plague, rabies, anthrax and pretty much any biological problem that nature throws its way.

Nature’s Cleanser

Vultures are biological waste controllers. Decline in their population is one of the severe concerns that the world is facing now. People feel disgusted by their habit of eating carcasses and perlious meal. But the most unappreciated bird has its own beauty which is yet to be recognised by people.

Vultures play an important role in consumption of the carcasses of dead animals, which in return prevents the spread of diseases like tuberculosis and rabies. For instance, the South African ecosystem comprises of carnivores like lions, hyenas, leopards etc. along with vultures. But, it has been evidently noticed that vultures alone are responsible for eating more than the amount of meat all the other animals consume when combined. Throwing them out of this equation, we all can imagine the whole ecosystem out of balance. They pose as the warriors of a nation against disease outbreak. We all must consider and appreciate their role in maintaining a safe ecological balance.

Today many people find these birds as ominous and always associate them with death. This association results from the general negative feelings that people have towards animals that feed on carrion (or dead).

Pruning of negative thoughts

For many, vultures may be an ugly bird with a myth that they attack livestock or even human beings. But the fact is that they always prey on dead corpse or rotten carcasses. They never attack a healthy livestock. Our ancestors valued them and utilised their scavenging nature to dispose off the dead and thus, kept their surrounding free of diseases.
But, why is the scavenging behaviour of these birds always associated with henious human acts? Why are vultures always linked with such negative connotation?
The general audience always considers them as an animal, radiant of bad energy and negative vibes. This bad energy, is primarily associated because of their practice of eating carcasses.
Truely speaking, human evolution has been the most selfish evolution so far. It starts with them and would find an end in itself. The more we are progressing towards advancement, the more difficult it is becoming to survive.

How vultures can eat rotting flesh without getting sick?

Vultures are nature’s most successful scavengers with some unique adaptations like – soaring flight, keen eyesight, bald head (to maintain hygiene while digging deep into the flesh) and low pH of gut which helps in filtering harmful microbes.
The primary reason behind rotting of substances is either bacteria or fungus. Vulture’s face and intestine is laden with variety of toxic bacterias. Here comes the role of strong and immune resistant gut system of these scavengers. Vultures have evolved a strong gut that makes them tolerant to bacterial toxins. Many researches have found a lot of fusobacteria and poisonous clostridia in the intestine of vultures. The poisonous toxins of these bacteria makes the carcasses a perilous meal for other inefficient scavengers. But vultures often enjoy this kind of meal without itself getting affected. The highly acidic pH of their gut filters out many microbes that live on decaying carrion and makes them harmless. Bacterial species which are found to be deteriorating for humans and other animals, flourish inside a vulture’s gut.

Cattle drug threatened thousands of vulture

India is home to 9 vulture species, most of which are at the risk of extinction. Out of nine, three species are critically endangered-

1. Oriental white backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis)
2. Slender billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris)
3. Long billed vulture (Gyps indicus)

According to wildlife veterinarians, the key cause of death of vultures is food poisoning. It has been evidently reported that the birds were feeding on dead animals, administered with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)- Diclofenac as painkiller. Diclofenac is usually given to cattles to treat the symptoms of inflammation or pain associated with disease or wound. The use of this painkiller spread widely in 1990s until for the time being banned in India, in 2008. Bioaccumulation of diclofenac caused kidney failure in vultures leading to their death.

How Diclofenac demolished these Robust Scavenging Crew? Can any Vidwaan answer this? [Write it in comment Box]

Additionally, the decline of vulture population has also been led by poaching. Vulture brains and other parts are wanted in Witchdoctor trade, because it is rumoured that it gives the ability to see into the future.

Vulture conservation programs

Lately, the conservation programs have achieved a commendable pace and recognition in India. Owing to which, India has quite successfully placed their vocal positioning in vulture conservation programmes among other nations.

Ram Jakti, an Indian conservationist has been honoured by Britain’s largest nature conservation charity Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) for his works in saving the endangered vultures.

1. A Vulture Care Centre (VCC) was set up at Pinjore, Haryana in 2001 to study the cause of deaths of vultures in India. The Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre in Pinjore is the world’s largest facility within the state’s Bir Shikargah Wildlife Sanctuary for the breeding and conservation of Indian vulture species.
2. The Protection status of White-backed, Long-Billed and Slender Billed Vultures was upgraded from Schedule IV to Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
3. To conserve the remaining population of vultures in the country and also to facilitate the reintroduction of vultures into the wild from Vulture Conservation Breeding Centres (VCBCs), attempts to create Vulture Safe Zones in the areas are being made.
4. Eight identified vulture safe zones in the country are being made including Pinjore in Haryana, Rajabhatkhawa in West Bengal, around Majuli Island in Assam, Bukswaha in Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Dudhwa National Park and Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh, Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, Central Gujarat and Saurashtra in Gujarat.
5. In 2006 National Action Plan on vulture conservation, government has banned the veterinary use of the drug ‘Diclofenac’ which is the cause of vulture mortality.
6. Testing of “Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs” (NSAID’s) on Vultures has been carried out by Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI).
7. The species has also been identified for conservation efforts under the component ‘Species Recovery Programme’ of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) – Development of Wildlife Habitat

Consequences

The sudden collapse in Nature’s Cleansing Squad has led to many serious consequences. The carcasses which where earlier disposed by vultures are now seen rotting along road sides or in agricultural fields. The heavy loss of vulture population in India has created an opportunity for the rise of other scavengers like feral dogs and rats. These newly upcoming scavengers are not as efficient as vultures. A vulture’s metabolism is a true “dead end” for the pathogens, but dogs and rats become carriers of the pathogens.
These newly abundant scavengers carry diseases from rotting carcasses such as rabies, anthrax, plague etc and are indirectly responsible for thousands of human deaths. In India itself, 30,000 people die from rabies every year. This is their poor tolerance towards deadly pathogens reciding in carrions.

Take Your Call!!

An old english excerpt says, never judge a book by its cover. I am mentioning the phrase not because I wish to portrait vultures as some kind of friendly domestic bird. But rather, my intentions have been quite obvious to make you aware of their both faces, impartially. I want people to see them at their best, which is when they are brawling, doped in blood and are heartily repulsive. At the same time, I want people to see them, when they are at their worst, which is when they are poisoned and their head is sliced open.