– Krishna Pd Bhusal
Bird conservation Nepal
Vulture conservationists from Nepal and India have come together to make the border area between the two countries a Diclofenac free zone in order to save endangered species of vultures.
Vultures are medium to large sized scavenging birds, feeding mostly on the carcasses of dead animals and are found on every continent except Antarctica and Oceania. Vultures play important role in maintaining clean environment through rapid consumption of animal carcasses and human dead bodies in the form of sky burials within Nepal and Tibet, China. They safely dispose off dead animals and help in preventing the spread of zoonotic diseases like rabies, anthrax, tuberculosis and brucellosis.
All nine vulture species of Indian sub-continent are found in Nepal that include four critically endangered and one endangered vulture species. There has been catastrophic decline in the populations of vultures in the South Asia due to contamination of carcass with the veterinary drug Diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, NSAIDs. Diclofenac is used for treatment of pain and inflammation in both veterinary and human medicine. Vultures that consume tissue from treated carcasses die from the effects of Diclofenac induced kidney failure, with clinical signs of visceral gout. Diclofenac is the main cause of vulture population decline. Other sources of mortality could include poisoning from deliberately poisoned carcasses, felling of nesting trees, disturbance and destruction of nests to prevent vultures nesting above agricultural land and dwellings, exclusion from feeding sites through disturbance or alternative carcass disposal methods (burial), and direct persecution and hunting of vultures either for medicinal purposes.
The Indo-Nepal border areas are a natural habitat of vultures where dense colony of vulture located. However, the birds have been dying in large numbers because of the painkiller Diclofenac which is illegally used mainly in Indian border areas. To support cross-border campaign of vulture conservation Bird Conservation Nepal organized a
आषाढ़ २७ गते, २०६९ मा प्रकाशित
