Scientists swoop in to save vultures

By RAHUL BEDI in New Delhi

Asia's first Vulture Care Centre, set up to save the scavenging birds that face extinction from a mysterious infectious disease, has been opened in northern India.

The facility in the small town of Pinjore in the Himalayan foothills includes a diagnostic laboratory that now houses five vultures. Scientists hope to increase this number to about 40 birds through breeding programmes.

"The project aims to identify the reasons behind the decline in the vulture population in India and to develop corrective measures," said British Bio-Diversity Minister Elliot Morley.

Britain gave a grant of 11 million rupees ($418,000) to set up the centre.



Scientists plan to place radio collars on vultures to map their migration patterns as they soar across into Eurasia and even into Africa carrying the unidentified, deadly wasting disease with them.

Ornithologists connected with the programme said this would help them get a better picture of the disease and also to prevent it from proliferating.

Ailing and dead vultures have been found in neighbouring Nepal and Pakistan, and there is concern that the avian disease could spread to other vultures across Europe and through Africa.

Officials estimate that the population of two of India's commonest griffon vultures has declined by more than 90 per cent because of the disease, which continues to baffle experts. Both species are now on Bird Life International's critically endangered list.

This, in turn, has triggered serious public health problems with carrion lying around for days around towns and villages across India.

Public health officials claim that the vulture shortage has led to an increase in stray dogs which, in turn, has contributed to the spread of rabies (each year about 20,000 Indians die of rabies).

Neglected animal carcasses can also lead to the outbreak of communicable infections such as tuberculosis, anthrax and foot-and-mouth disease, officials said.

India's small Parsee community in the western port city of Bombay has also been affected by the drop in the vulture population. The birds normally scavenge their dead in the secluded Towers of Silence in the heart of the city, in keeping with ancient Zoroastrian tradition.

Despite the diminishing vulture population, the federal Environment and Forests ministry had, over the years, refused researchers permission either to trap the dying birds or to transfer their diseased tissue samples for detailed examination to Britain and Australia.

Officials said it was fearful of losing genetic material to pharmaceutical companies and others it felt were interested in patenting the genomes of various organisms.

Scientists involved with the vulture centre said the authorities had relented recently on the issue.

The ministry has permitted tissue samples from a few diseased vultures to be sent for analysis to Melbourne, sparking hope for the future of the country's winged scavengers.

Herald feature: Environment