By Salam Rajesh
Vultures in Manipur in a time past
As late as the mid 1970s, vultures were a common sight in the urban landscape of central Imphal. The Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus, Langja in the vernacular) were almost everywhere, scavenging food among the wastes piled on the river banks, and even in people’s backyards.
This writer as a school-going boy in those early days, still remember the noisy, wing spreading birds of prey fighting with the family’s dogs as the birds ventured into the backyard looking for food (kitchen wastes). There were always five to six of these social raptors holding up in a nearby banyan tree looking out for the slightest opportunity to snatch food.
Ironically, vultures in Manipur are a myth for the young people of today. They would not easily believe that the huge birds of prey were a reality then.
Scavengers as they are, vultures help in cleaning up the mess that humans create in any open space – streams, river banks, backyards, and open grounds. They feed on the carrion (carcasses of dead animals) and other rot left by mindless humans.
By the 1980s they had literally disappeared from the scene, except for a stray now and then (like the migratory Himalayan Griffon Vulture Gyps himalayensis sometimes in Tamenglong).
The Indian Vulture, described as belonging to the old world vultures, is a keystone species that has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2002.
Risk analysis
“The world’s biodiversity is in a grim state. The global Red List assessments conducted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) show declines in the conservation status of all facets of biodiversity”.
The State of India’s Birds 2023 report (www.stateofindiasbirds.in) agrees that decades back, vultures were among the most numerous birds in the Indian skies. However, the populations of several species of vultures went down to near zero during the late 1990s and early 2000s, which was among the most rapid declines of any vertebrate ever recorded in the country.
So, how did these social raptors disappear? After years of careful research, the finger pointed to the veterinary anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac. This prescribed drug was fatal to vultures that fed on carcasses of livestock that had been administered with the drug.
In 2008, the veterinary usage of diclofenac was banned in India, giving some hope for the remnant vulture populations in the country.
As per the 2023 report, out of the several species of vultures reported in the country, the White-rumped Vulture, Indian Vulture, and Red-headed Vulture suffered the greatest long-term declines at 98%, 95%, and 91% respectively. The Egyptian Vulture and the migratory Griffon Vulture, too, were reported to have declined considerably.
The State of India’s Birds report is a periodic assessment of the distribution range, trends in abundance, and conservation status for most of the bird species that regularly occur in India.
Humans at their worst capability
The SoIB 2023 report noted that the Indian Vulture declined by over 8% every year, and the Red-headed and White-rumped Vultures by over 5% and 4% respectively. This statistics suggest the ongoing threats to vultures, which as the report further noted is of particular concern given the fact that vulture declines have negatively affected human well-being.
The more alarming aspect is that there is evidence that vultures are at risk from other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as, aceclofenac, ketoprofen and nimesulide. These were introduced as alternatives to the banned diclofenac.
Aceclofenac and ketoprofen were recently banned for animal use, however, several NSAIDs, including diclofenac and aceclofenac continue to be produced for human use and are therefore easy to obtain for use in livestock as well, the report noted.
A number of other human-induced factors are also said to affect birds in India, and elsewhere, of which land-use change including urbanization, mass deforestation and ecosystem degradation, infrastructural development, environmental pollutants, and climate change are notable.
The way forward
In 2022, when the revised Indian wildlife law – The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 – came into force, 87 out of the 206 bird species listed in Schedule I of the Act were classified as threatened according to the IUCN, and 96 species were designated as having High Conservation Concern.
The vultures, an important component of the food chain cycle in the natural world, needs protection under the wildlife law so that their populations remain stable and they would continue to provide services that is both beneficial to the environment and for human well-being.
‘With their ubiquity and ecological importance, birds are excellent indicators of the state of our natural world and are potent cultural symbols of nature’ (SoIB 2023).
In the scientific terminology, the in-situ and ex-situ conservation of threatened birds and their habitats are prioritized, while leveraging on regenerating degraded habitats and food sources for the birds are recommended.
In Manipur’s Tamenglong District, the State’s and the grassroots community’s joint effort to protect the bamboo brakes along Irang River that provide roosting sites for the tens of thousands of the migratory raptor Amur Falcon during their winter visit in the State enroute to their feeding grounds in Africa, is a good example of participatory conservation that actually works for the safety of the threatened bird species.
Other than the falcons, the Tamenglong community is now looking out for the protection and conservation of the hornbills, of which four species are reported in the area. Hornbills are intricately related to the cultural history of the Zeliangrong tribes in Manipur.
This, however, cannot be said easily for the thousands of migratory water birds that visit Loktak wetland complex in winter. Trapping, poaching, human interferences, and habitat degradation continue to confront the birds inspite of the efforts by the State and local voluntary organizations to provide safe refuge for the birds during their winter stay.
This is where conservation with a purpose, strengthened by enforcement of the existing wildlife law and with more proactive participation of local communities, needs to be encouraged by the State administration.
It is now too late to do anything for the vultures – scavengers that benefited the environment and humans alike. Like the vultures, the scavenger crows literally have disappeared from the State, maybe for the same reason as the decline of the vultures.
The lessons learnt must not be repeated for the other threatened birds of value – Amur falcons, hornbills, numerous species of water birds, the fruit bats (although mammals), the hoopoe, barbets, parrots, humming birds, sparrows, and much more.
{The author is member of IUCN CEESP (Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy)}
