International Vulture Awareness Day was observed at the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) on Saturday with various programmes.
The event was organised jointly by the Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology (HCEWB), Arulagam, a conservation organisation in Tamil Nadu, and the Forest department.
Handling a session on vulture conservation, HCEWB director C.K. Vishnudas said the sanctuary was the lone protected area in the State where vultures remained.
Vultures faced catastrophic population decline during 2000 when a large number of them were exposed to an anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac sodium, used in cattle population as a pain killer, Mr. Vishnudas said.
Vultures were exposed to the drug when they fed on dead cattle which were treated with the drug and left out in dumping yards in central and north India.
There were nearly four crore white-rumped vultures in South Asia till the end of the nineties. However, exposure to diclofenac brought down the number to less than 10,000, he said.
The reason for the survival of vultures in Wayanad was that they were never exposed to the drug. Instead, they depended for food on ungulates that were predated by carnivores such as tigers and leopards, Mr. Vishnudas said.
The sanctuary at present holds a population of around 80 tigers. So, at least five deer-sized animals are killed in a week by them for food. Thanks to the eating habits of tigers and leopards, carcasses are available for vultures to feed on.
Currently, around 150 white-rumped vultures and less than 25 red-headed vultures survive in the sanctuary. The Hume Centre has monitored the nesting success of vultures for the past 15 years. Regular monitoring and stringent conservation measures are needed for vulture conservation. However, in the past two years vulture nesting in the sanctuary has come down, he added.
K.J. Martin Lowel, warden in charge, WWS, inaugurated the programme. Mr. Lowel released posters on International Vulture Awareness Day on the occasion.
