Pune: The population of oriental white-backed vultures appears to have stabilised in India, while that of long-billed vultures is declining.
A research paper recently published in the journal Bird Conservation International said so.
The paper — "Recent changes in population of critically endangered Gyps vultures in India" — is based on nationwide surveys carried out in different parts of the country during 2015 by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), supported by Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the UK.
It has been penned by multiple authors with Vibhu Prakash, deputy director and head of BNHS — Vulture Conservation Breeding Programme, as the lead author
The estimates from the survey have been incorporated in the global estimates for the three species calculated by BirdLife International and CMS Vulture Multi-species Action Plan.
Rhys Green, conservation scientist and co-author, said that the new estimate of population size for all three species is much lower than previously estimated. It is important to note that the difference in population size estimates between 2007 and 2012 analyses is mostly because of a better method that allows for the position of many transects near protected areas where vultures are more plentiful, and not because vulture numbers have changed greatly between the two years.
The three resident species of Gyps vulture, formerly numbering tens of millions in total, are now considered critically endangered. The use of vulture-toxic NSAIDs in cattle could prevent the recovery of oriental white-backed vultures and continue the decline of long-billed and slender-billed vultures.
"The paper is a reminder of vulture crisis in India, which is far from over and more regulations on NSAIDs are needed to save them from extinction," Deepak Apte, director, BNHS, said.
