Rare breed of vulture spotted in Goa after eight years

Rare breed of vulture spotted in Goa after eight years

Preetu Nair, TNN

PANAJI: An Indian white-rumped vulture was spotted in Goa after a gap of almost eight years.

According to bird lovers and forest officials, this particular breed of vulture was last spotted in Goa sometime in 2001.

Wildlife photographer Prasanna Parab spotted a "big white rumped vulture" on March 15, 2009 near the highway at Panzorconi, near Cuncolim and captured it on camera. The vulture, which has not been spotted since is bald, with broad wings and a short tail and has now become a subject of discussion among bird watchers.

"Nearly 99% of vultures are now extinct. Of six species of vultures, three the Indian white-rumped vulture, long-billed vulture and slender-billed vultureare facing extinction. The Indian white-rumped vulture was last spotted in 2001. About 12 long-billed vultures were documented in the state five years back, but today there is only one remaining in the borders of Mhadei wildlife sanctuary. Four nests of long-billed vultures were spotted five years back, but now there are none," said Parag Rangnekar of Vivekananda Environment Awareness Brigade.

Carl D'Silva, state coordinator for Bombay Natural History Society said, "This is a rare occasion. The vultures use thermals (warm air currents) to fly. As the temperature has touched 40?C in western India, maybe there is a movement to some other place as vultures prefer ambient temperatures".

The Indian white-rumped vulture is listed in the IUCN Red Data List as a critically endangered species which faces a threat of extinction in the near future. "The Goa meat factory, near Merck factory at Tisk (Usgao) was a well known site for hundreds of white rumped vultures between 1995 and 2000. But after the closure of the factory, there have been no reported sightings ever since", said a range forest officer in the state.

Also known as nature cleaner, the Indian white-rumped vulture is a scavenger preying mainly on dead animals and forest officials believe that the main factor for the decline of the species was poisoning due to Diclofenae, a veterinary drug which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), that causes kidney failure in birds eating the carcass of cattle treated by this drug.

Environmentalists admit that there has been a catastrophic decline in the vulture population all over the country. The minimum decline in white-backed vulture numbers in India during 1992-2003 was 99.7% and that for Long-billed/Slender-billed was 97.4%. This corresponds with a minimum estimated rate of decline of 34% per year for white-rumped vultures and 27% per year for the long-billed/slender-billed group.

9 May 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition