AR-News: (India) Vultures dying by the dozen

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=273076


Only 12 vultures spotted in district
PRASAD POTDAR

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 08, 2003 01:53:46 AM ]

PUNE: The vulture population in the country has registered a sharp decline of 
95 per cent. Only 12 vultures were spotted in Pune district during a recent 
survey by the forest department. 

Acknowledging the seriousness of the development, P J Thosare, chief 
conservator of forests, Pune region, had in February asked all regional forest offices 
to conduct inspections of vulture colonies every fortnight. 
The offices were asked to send the number of vultures noticed once every six 
months. According to the inspections, one vulture each was noticed at Ranjne 
in the Sinhagad forest area and Kondgaon, three near Shivneri fort and seven at 
Bhambarde, Akole and Mainbela in the Maval forest area. 
Anil Mahabal, joint director of the Zoological Survey of India, Pune, told 
TNN on Friday that vultures were present in large numbers in and around Pune 
during 1983-90. 
"I have seen as many as 450 vultures in one group," he remarked, adding that 
a survey of all the birds in Pune in 2001 revealed that the number of vultures 
had dropped considerably. 
A similar trend was noticed in other parts of the country, which prompted 
research on the subject. Officials of the Bombay Natural History Society said the 
number of vultures in the country had registered a staggering decline of 95 
per cent. 
 Vultures have become rare in Maharashtra, but no survey was conducted to 
find out how many of them were present in the state. The survey conducted by the 
Pune forest department assumes importance on this backdrop. 
Researchers said that vultures were dying due to viral infection and the 
consumption of chemical substances. This has affected the hatching of eggs, 
thereby reducing reproduction. Meanwhile, people will now have to visit zoos to see 
vultures, which do the most vital job of keeping the environment clean. 
Bodies of dead animals continue to decompose due to the absence of vultures, 
which has posed some serious health problems. 
After a nation-wide study was started on vultures, pair of vultures kept in 
the Rajiv Gandhi zoo at Katraj was sent to the disease diagnostic centre of 
chief conservator of forests at Pinjore, in Haryana. Four types of vultures were 
found in Maharashtra, according to experts. 








"I would not enter on my list of friends the man who needlessly sets foot 
upon a worm." - Cowper
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/attachments/20031107/6afb46d2/attachment.html