Arghakhanchi, September 17
Nepal has become the first country in South Asia to halt the decline and achieve a sustained increase in its vulture population following conservation measures, restrictions on harmful veterinary drugs, protection of habitats and provision of safe food.
Vulture populations across South Asia began declining sharply in the 1990s. Research later identified diclofenac, a painkiller used in veterinary treatment, as a major cause of vulture deaths. Vultures feeding on carcasses of livestock treated with the drug suffered kidney failure and usually died within two days.
Nepal, India and Pakistan banned veterinary use of diclofenac in 2006, while Bangladesh introduced a ban in 2010. Safe feeding sites known as Jatayu Restaurants, habitat conservation and efforts to reduce the use of other harmful drugs have since supported vulture recovery.
A recent scientific study found that the population of the critically endangered Oriental White-rumped Vulture has increased by an average of 12.7 per cent annually in Nepal since 2012-13, with the trend continuing through 2025.
Satellite tracking of 70 vultures found annual survival rates of 94.7 per cent for adults and 95.5 per cent for immature birds. Researchers also monitored 6,410 nests between 2007 and 2025, recording an average nesting success rate of about 69 per cent.
Researchers said the recovery is mainly attributable to improved survival and breeding within Nepal, rather than an influx of vultures from India. However, conservationists cautioned that populations remain well below their pre-1990s levels and urged continued monitoring of veterinary drugs harmful to vultures.
—RSS
