Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will get a vulture conservation and breeding centre each, according to the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020-2025.

Action Plan for Vulture Conservation

• The action plan was approved by the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) October 5, 2020. An earlier one was formulated in 2006 for three years.
• The new plan has laid out strategies and actions to stem the decline in vulture population, especially of the three Gyps species:

1. Oriental white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis)
2. Slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris)
3. Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus)

Note: These three vulture species were listed by  IUCN, in 2000 as ‘Critically  Endangered’,  which is the highest category of endangerment.

• This would be done through both ex-situ and in-situ conservation.
• The plan has also suggested that new veterinary non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) be tested on vultures before their commercial release. NSAIDS often poisons cattle whose carcasses the birds pray on.

Highlights of the new plan

• A system to automatically remove a drug from veterinary use if it is found to be toxic to vultures, with the help of the Drugs Controller General of India.
• Conservation breeding of red-Headed vultures and Egyptian vultures and the establishment at least one vulture-safe zone in each state for the conservation of the remnant populations in that state.
• Coordinated nation-wide vulture counting, involving forest departments, the Bombay Natural History Society, research institutes, non-profits and members of the public.
• A database on emerging threats to vulture conservation, including collision and electrocution, unintentional poisoning, etc.

Why protect vultures?

• Vultures are often overlooked and perceived as lowly scavengers, but they play a crucial role in the environments in which they live.
• The scavenging lifestyle that gives them a bad reputation is, in fact, that makes them so important for the environment, nature and society.
• Vultures, also known as nature’s cleanup crew, do the dirty work of cleaning up after death, helping to keep ecosystems healthy as they act as natural carcass recyclers.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now