White-rumped Vulture(Gyps bengalensis)
The white-rumped vulture is a, medium-sized vulture, with an unfeathered head and neck, very broad wings, and short tail feathers. It has a white neck ruff. The adult's whitish back, rump, and underwing coverts contrast with the otherwise dark plumage. The body is black and the secondaries are silvery grey. The head is tinged in pink and bill is silvery with dark ceres. The nostril openings are slit-like. Juveniles are largely dark and take about four or five years to acquire the adult plumage.
The hooked bill is brownish-black with darker cere. Eyes are brown. Legs and feet are black.
Both sexes are similar. In flight, the adults show a dark leading edge of the wing and has a white wing-lining on the underside. The under tail coverts are black. It weighs 3.5–7.5 kg, measures 75–93 cm in length, and has a wingspan of 1.92–2.6 m.
Habitat
White-rumped Vulture frequents open country near villages and towns. It can be seen in parks and it is often closely associated with human. It also may be found in lowlands, and foothills up to 1500 metres of elevation. Vultures often gather at slaughterhouses and rubbish-dumps near towns and cities. They can be found in SE Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, through Nepal and India to SC China, Indochina and N Malay Peninsula. The range of this species on the map is in red.
Diet
White-rumped Vulture is a scavenger, feeding exclusively on carrion, and mainly carcasses of cattle.
Breeding
Breeding season occurs from October to March-April. These vultures sometimes nest in small colonies in trees. The nest is made with sticks and lined with green leaves by both adults. It is situated in large tree, between 5 and 30 metres above the ground, often near village or town, close to a road or a stream. Female lays one white egg tinged bluish-green. Incubation lasts about 45 to 48 days, shared by both parents. Fledging period may last up to three months.
Population
According to the IUCN Red List, they are classed as Critically Endangered (CR). Formerly described as possibly the most abundant large bird of prey in the world, this species global population almost certainly numbered several million individuals. However, following dramatic declines through the 1990s across its range its global population is now estimated to fall within the band 2,500-9,999 mature individuals. This equates to 3,750-14,999 individuals, rounded here to 3,500-15,000 individuals. The species declined in South-East Asia during the 20th century, apparently as a result of the collapse of large ungulate populations owing to over-harvesting by human hunters. Declines in the major part of the population throughout the Indian Subcontinent probably began in the 1990s and were very rapid, resulting in an overall population decline of greater than 99% over a 10-15 year period.
Threats
By mid-2000, vultures were being found dead and dying in Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and throughout India, and major declines and local extirpations were being reported. The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, used to treat domestic livestock, has been identified as the cause of mortality. Vultures are exposed to diclofenac and other NSAIDs through scavenging on the carcasses of largely cattle and buffalo that had been treated prior to death (often as part of palliative care) and left for scavengers to consume. Vultures are unable to process diclofenac and other vulture-toxic NSAIDs which then cause renal failure resulting in visceral gout in the vast majority of examined vultures. Modelling has shown that to cause the observed rate of decline in vultures, just one in 760 livestock carcasses need contain diclofenac residues; and sampling carcasses of livestock in India between 2004 and 2005 showed that 10% were contaminated with diclofenac. Despite awareness programmes to educate locals about the association between diclofenac and vulture mortality and diclofenac being banned in several range states, a survey in Nepal indicated that the vast majority of people still do not link diclofenac use to a decline in vulture populations, potentially leading to a slower uptake of meloxicam, an alternative veterinary drug that is of low toxicity to vultures and which has been promoted as a safe alternative to diclofenac in the region). Additionally, large vials of diclofenac continue to be manufactured for human use, which are then distributed, sold and used for veterinary purposes. A second veterinary drug in use in India and particularly in Bangladesh, ketoprofen, has also been identified to be lethal to the species, and measurements of residue levels in ungulate carcasses in India indicates that they are present in sufficient concentrations to cause vulture mortalities. Additionally, aceclofenac is a pro-drug of diclofenac, which is converted to diclofenac in cattle, and is therefore as toxic to vultures as diclofenac itself. Wild vultures have also been found dead in India with visceral gout and residues of the veterinary NSAID nimesulide in their tissues. This combination has only been found previously for gout and diclofenac, and therefore provides a strong indication that nimesulide is also toxic to vultures. The availability of other NSAIDs, including ketoprofen and nimesulide, is increasing. Flunixin is another NSAID that has been associated with visceral gout in vultures, though it is not commonly in use in South Asia yet. One study recorded that the sex of fledglings, the sex of dead adults and the sex of adults with visceral gout were all male-biased which may lead to problems in the future.
Other likely contributory factors in South Asia are changes in human consumption and processing of dead livestock (which have occurred in response to the collapse in vulture numbers) and poison and pesticide use, but these are probably of more minor significance. Forest fires may also be a threat in some areas, for instance in the Himalayas, though this may need further study. In Bangladesh, 61% of cattle owners surveyed said that they now buried dead cattle or used them as food in shrimp farms, which could lead to a reduction in food supply for vultures. In South-East Asia, the near-total disappearance of the species pre-dated the present crisis, and probably resulted from the collapse of large wild ungulate populations and improved management of deceased livestock reducing food availability. In Cambodia, vultures are still threatened by extremely low population densities of wild ungulates, a decline in the number of free-ranging domestic ungulates, felling of nesting trees for timber and accidental poisoning at carcasses laced with pesticides to kill stray dogs and for hunting wildlife. Additional threats identified in Myanmar include direct persecution of the species through nest destruction, hunting and poisoning and indirectly through a loss of food supply.
Conservation
Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix II. It has been reported from many protected areas across its range. The governments of India, Nepal and Pakistan passed legislation in 2006 banning the manufacture and importation of diclofenac as a veterinary drug, with India passing further legislation in 2008 banning the manufacture, sale, distribution or use of veterinary diclofenac. In the same year, the Indian government ordered a crackdown on companies selling diclofenac. A letter from the Drug Controller General of India warned more than 70 drugs firms not to sell the veterinary form of diclofenac, and to mark human diclofenac containers 'not for veterinary use. In October 2010, the government of Bangladesh banned the production of diclofenac for use in cattle, and the distribution and sale of the drug were due to be outlawed during the first half of 2011. These bans have led to a reduction of diclofenac within ungulate carcasses (the principal food source for vultures) in India and a study of 11 administrative districts in Nepal found diclofenac use dropped by 90% since 2006 following the introduction of measures to reduce its use. The availability of diclofenac in veterinary drug stores in Bangladesh decreased from 100% in 2008-2009 to 53% in 2011-2012. However, levels of diclofenac contamination still remain high and human forms of the drug are still sold for veterinary use. In response to the misuse of human diclofenac, the Government of India banned the manufacture of all diclofenac products in vial sizes larger than 3 ml in 2015, and this is predicted to make the drug too expensive and too complicated to use on large-bodied animals and thereby stop its misuse in livestock. Efforts to replace diclofenac with a suitable alternative are on-going and are showing signs of success with evidence for a decrease in diclofenac and an increase in the safe alternative. An alternative drug, meloxicam, which is out of patent and manufactured in Asia has been tested on Gyps vultures with no ill-effects; though three additional drugs, aceclofenac, nimesulide and ketoprofen, are known to be toxic to vultures, and approximately another 10 drugs need to be tested.
SAVE (Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction) has developed the concept of Vulture Safe Zones; areas (with a minimum of 100 km radius, equating to 30,000 km2) around important vulture breeding colonies, where education and advocacy efforts are focussed on eliminating the use of diclofenac and other vulture-toxic drugs, such as ketoprofen (banned in Coimbatore, Erode and Nilgiris Districts). There are currently multiple Vulture Safe Zones being established in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh . These areas will provide a safe environment into which birds bred in captivity can be released, as well as supporting wild birds. They can also bring in vulture-related income for locals, through ecotourism.
Vulture restaurants are increasingly used as ecotourism attractions in parts of the species's range, particularly Cambodia and Nepal, to raise awareness and fund supplementary feeding programmes and research. The exchange of diclofenac with meloxicam near breeding colonies is taking place in Nepal in combination with diversionary feeding with diclofenac-free carcasses. Diversionary feeding has been shown to reduce but not eliminate vulture mortality from diclofenac poisoning, and uncertainty over the movements of Asian Gyps vultures makes the effectiveness of measures such as these uncertain. Birds have been satellite tagged in various parts of their range to improve understanding of their movements, foraging range, site fidelity etc., and to aid the development of suitable conservation strategies for the species. Socioeconomic surveys in Nepal have shown that local people are strongly in favour of vulture conservation because of the associated ecological services that vultures provide.
The Report of the International South Asian Vulture Recovery Plan Workshop in 2004 gave a comprehensive list of recommendations including establishing a minimum of three captive breeding centres, each capable of holding 25 pairs. Captive breeding efforts are on-going and met with success when two chicks hatched in early 2007 at a breeding centre in Pinjore, Haryana. Three more birds hatched in 2009. The centre is part of a captive breeding programme established by the RSPB and Bombay Natural History Society. A website has been set up to allow researchers to contribute data on known colonies to identify founder individuals for captive flocks that will ensure the full geographical spread of the species is represented in captive breeding efforts. By April 2008, there were 88 in captivity at three breeding centres in India, as well as 11 at a centre established by WWF-Pakistan and 14 in captivity in Nepal. During 2009, these numbers increased to 120 in India, 43 in Nepal and 14 in Pakistan . In late 2009, trials of artificial incubation methods were due to start soon. By November 2015, the total number held in breeding centres affiliated to SAVE stood at 218 birds at 3 centres in India, 15 at a centre in Pakistan and 57 at a centre in Nepal, of which 20 juveniles had successfully fledged; and as of 2015 the Indian breeding centres were fledging 60 juveniles of all three resident species combined. Captive breeding centres often receive vultures that have been found poisoned and then rehabilitated by rescue centres such as the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation, Assam, which is run by the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Wildlife Trust of India. Surveys utilising vulture restaurants were carried out in Myanmar in late 2006 and early 2007, simultaneously censusing nesting colonies, vulture deaths and looking for diclofenac use.
An action plan for vulture conservation in India was written in 2006, but has not been updated. Cambodia and Nepal have updated their 10-year and 6-year action plans, and in 2016 an action plan was produced for Bangladesh. In 2012 the governments of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh adopted a number of priority actions for the conservation of vultures, proposed by SAVE. These include banning large multi-dose vials of human diclofenac, testing other NSAIDs for toxicity to vultures and expanding the Vulture Safe Zones initiative. In 2014, SAVE produced A Blueprint for the recovery of South Asia’s Critically Endangered Gyps vultures that presents key conservation actions for the region and timelines for each action. A multi-species action plan for African-Eurasian Vultures is under development and is due to be considered by CMS at COP12 in October 2017.
Conservation Actions Proposed
Continue to measure the frequency of diclofenac and ketoprofen-treated carcasses available to vultures. Support the ban on the veterinary use of diclofenac, and support species management or restoration, as needed. Strengthen public awareness and public support programmes, including providing veterinary camps and livestock management training. Monitor remaining populations, in particular continue activities in Cambodia and Myanmar. Monitor the sale of veterinary drugs, and contamination of ungulate carcasses/dead vultures. Provide supplementary food sources, with appropriately-sized carcasses, where necessary for food-limited populations. Support captive breeding efforts at a number of separate centres with the aim of holding at least 150 pairs of each species in captivity . Manage genetic stock in the captive-bred population. Promote the immediate adoption of meloxicam as an alternative to diclofenac, and improve its availability. Test other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to identify additional safe alternative drugs to diclofenac and also other toxic ones. Four additional drugs, aceclofenac, nimesulide, flunixin and ketoprofen, are known to be toxic to vultures, and approximately another 10 drugs need to be tested, and support bans for these vulture-toxic drugs. Attempt to fully implement a restriction in the size of diclofenac vials sold for human use to make them less practical to use for veterinary purposes and take action against companies that fail to comply with the diclofenac ban. Promote Vulture Safe Zones, with expansion to include trans-boundary efforts as well as the opportunity for vulture-based ecotourism. Safeguard nesting areas from logging. Estimate the potential value of ecosystem services provided by vultures.