Tamil Nadu’s mission to save the critically endangered vultures

Subject :Environment

Context-

The Tamil Nadu Government formed a State-level Committee to set up an institutional framework for the effective conservation of vultures, which almost went extinct in the country at the beginning of the 21st century.
Tamil Nadu is a pioneer.
It banned two drugs (Ketoprofen and diclofenac) that caused vulture deaths a long time ago.
The State’s vulture population has since stabilized and slightly increased.

The committee-

The committee, which has a two-year tenure, will take steps for monitoring the conservation and recovery of existing vulture sites and mapping of vulture populations across the State for creating safe zones.
It will work to eliminate the use of toxic veterinary drugs, the main reason for vulture fatalities.
Prevention of poisoning of cattle carcasses, the principal food of vultures, is also one of the responsibilities of the newly formed committee.

Vultures in Tamilnadu region-

In Tamil Nadu, four species of vultures are found — the Oriental white-backed vulture, the long-billed vulture, the red-headed vulture, and the Egyptian vulture.
The first three are residents and can be found in the landscapes of the Nilgiris and Sathyamangalam.
There is evidence of Egyptian vulture breeding only at one site in Dharmapuri.
The availability of food is a key factor determining vulture populations.
After the formation of tiger reserves in the Nilgiris landscape, the number of tigers has increased and therefore, the vulture population that scavenge on the kills also increased.
Vultures play an extremely important role as nature’s scavengers, keeping the environment clean.
Their social and ecological significance cannot be underestimated, Ms. Sahu said, adding “It is the last level scavenger.”

About Vultures:

It is one of the 22 species of large carrion-eating birds that live predominantly in the tropics and subtropics.
India is home to 9 species of Vulture namely the Oriental white-backed, Long-billed, Slender-billed, Himalayan, Red-headed, Egyptian, Bearded, Cinereous and the Eurasian Griffon.
Most of these 9 species face dangers of extinction.
Bearded, Long-billed, Slender-billed, Oriental white-backed are protected in the Schedule-1 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Rest is protected under ‘Schedule IV’.
Conservation status– As per the IUCN’s Red list out of 9 species of vultures in India, 4 species are critically endangered,1 is endangered, 3 are near threatened and 1 is least concern.