Coming soon: Restaurant for vultures
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In a last ditch attempt to revive the vulture population in the state, the forest department is mulling over a proposal to set up a ‘vulture restaurant’ in Ramanagara where a colony of long-billed vultures exists.
A designated plot near Ramadevarabetta will be fenced and the carcasses of livestock will be laid out to tempt the appetite of the fast vanishing vultures.
There are 32 long-billed vultures recorded in and around Ramadevarabetta after 22 sq km of this area was recently declared a long-billed vulture reserve.
Vultures only scavenge on dead carcasses and there are few such available. The drug diclofenac used as a pain killer to treat livestock, but which is fatal for vultures, has led to the decline in the vulture population. The carcass of an animal that has ingested this drug can kill up to seven vultures.
“A cliff where a majority of long-billed vultures are found is located near Ramadeverabetta which has a historic temple on the top.
We are talking to the temple authorities so that a no-objection feeding point can be fixed. Vultures as you know can smell carcass for miles,” a forest department official said.
The carcasses will be obtained from slaughter houses, veterinary hospitals and cow rehabilitation centres.
The forest official said bird experts and scientists from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) who have worked on vultures will be asked to be part of the project.
Rishad Naoroji, bird conservationist and author of Indian Birds of Prey said that captive breeding and creating feeding places for vultures has been tried successfully in many parts of the world.
“The Bombay Natural History Society has set up four vulture breeding centres where vultures are kept in captivity for a brief while before they are released in the wild.
At this point we cannot afford to lose even one vulture. Any new idea with vulture conservation is like playing with fire. The concept of artificial feeding for vultures has been successful in the US and Africa,” Mr Naoroji said.
He said a good veterinary team was essential for the Ramanagara vulture project to ensure that the meat given to the vultures is not infected with diclofenac.
PCCF (General) Mr A. K. Varma said that vulture restaurant projects have been started in Haryana and Punjab and its high time the vulture population in Ramanagara was revived.
The BNHS offers help
“We are ready to offer training and consultation to Karnataka Forest Department to set up feeding centre for vultures. It’s important that the project should have a good team of veterinarians and volunteers,” said Rishad Naoroji, who is on the governing council of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
“The BNHS has established four vulture breeding centres where vultures undergo a brief period of captive breeding before they are released in the wild. The BNHS will now look at centres in South India too,” said Mr Naoroji.
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