India’s iconic raptors are declining fast, warns new report

Subject :Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

India’s raptors (birds of prey) are declining fast and the reasons for the decline are poorly understood, according to the State of India’s Birds 2023: Range, trends, and conservation status released on August 25, 2023.

What does the report say?

Raptors are in decline globally due to:
- loss of habitat,
- pesticide accumulation
  - Harriers have declined in their breeding range in Europe due to pesticide use. Harriers winter in India and some, like the Pallid Harrier have shown a 70 per cent decline.
- targeted killing.
All woodland species, and White-eyed Buzzard and Common Kestrel among generalists continue to decline at a lower rate than earlier.
In contrast, open country specialists show a particularly strong decline both in the long term and currently, although Black-winged Kite and Western Marsh Harrier show trends that are roughly stable in the long term.
Some raptors in India are on the decline as they need large tracts of high-quality habitat to serve their dietary needs which the country no longer has.
- An example of this is the Tawny Eagle. It is becoming increasingly difficult to see today and is of High Conservation Concern like many other large raptors.

Declining vulture population:

International Day for Vulture Awareness: 2 September
India’s vulture populations started plummeting in the 1990s due to the widespread use of diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), in veterinary medicine. When vultures fed on the carcasses of animals treated with diclofenac, they experienced kidney failure, leading to their rapid decline. Populations of some vulture species have decreased by over 99 per cent, pushing these birds to the brink of extinction.
The diclofenac ban (since 2006) may have slowed vulture declines in some places, but the analyses in this report shows that countrywide, vultures continue to decline: Indian Vulture by over 8% every year, and Red-headed and White-rumped Vultures by over 5% and 4% respectively.
Several Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS), including diclofenac and aceclofenac, continue to be produced for human use and can thus be used for livestock as well.
Besides drugs, vultures are now facing challenges in that carcasses are being buried. Moreover, feral dogs compete with the birds at carcass dumps. Carcasses poisoned to kill feral dogs often cause vulture deaths as collateral damage.
Recently the Government has banned aceclofenac and ketoprofen. But Nimesulide, another NSAID that is also harmful to vultures, still remains in use.

Other threats to vultures:

Role of vultures:

Vultures play a critical role in maintaining the ecological balance by scavenging ungulate carcasses and preventing the spread of diseases.

Positive trends in the report:

There are some positive trends too.
Generalist species like Shikra, Booted Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, and Brahminy Kite (which occupy a range of habitats, including human habitats) and woodland species appear to have suffered the least declines in the long term.