Safe Haven - Captive vultures are housed in well protected aviaries at the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre
Vultures to Street Dogs India has experienced the most unprecedented decline of any species on the planet has occurred. By the late 1980’s the Oriental White-backed vultures were so numerous they were considered the most abundant bird of prey in the world, but today along with the Long-billed and the Slender-billed vultures their numbers have crashed from well over 40 million birds to a mere few thousand, all largely due to the pain killing ‘wonder drug’ Diclofenac. Even if veterinary Diclofenac was completely out of the market place human Diclofenac is not and proves just as toxic for vultures hence the future for the few remaining vultures would seem extremely bleak indeed. Meloxicam is a non steroid anti inflammatory drug which has been found to be a safe alternative to In 1996 it was discovered that vulture populations across India had declined by over 50% It took a further eight years of research to discover that Diclofenac was the cause and by then the population had plummeted even lower. Now indications are that the Egyptian and Red-headed vultures are facing a similar fate. Bombay Natural History Society is taking a leading role in the vulture conservation programme which is supported by the Government of India and a number of leading international ngo’s. The first Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre was officially opened in 2003 in Haryana State. "I think we are facing the reality of total extinction if things do not change very quickly." Over 50% of deaths in the world due to rabies occur in India. The high mortality rate is due to street dogs, they are out of control particularly in the urban areas where the ratio of dogs to humans is five to one. An awareness campaign is really required to educate the people who are suffering largely due to ignorance and negligence.
Size: 3872px × 2592px
Location: Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre Haryana State India
Photo credit: © Adrian Page / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -continent, aviaries, aviary, bamboo, blue, breeding, brown, centre, conservation, green, housed, india, leaves, sky, trees, vulture, vultures
