Indian White-rumped Vulture
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| Gyps bengalensis (Gmelin, 1788) |
The Indian White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is closely related to the European Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) though less so than it was long believed to the White-backed Vulture. Its alternate name, Oriental White-backed Vulture, is a leftover from that time.
It breeds on crags or in trees in northern and central India, Pakistan and southeast Asia, laying one egg. Birds may form loose colonies. The population is mostly resident.
Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals which it finds by soaring over savannah and around human habitation. It often moves in flocks.
The White-rumped Vulture is a typical vulture, with a bald head, very broad wings and short tail. It is much smaller than European Griffon. It has a white neck ruff. The adult’s whitish back, rump and underwing coverts contrast with the otherwise dark plumage. Juveniles are largely dark.
This species, as well as the Indian and Slender-billed Vultures have suffered a 99 percent population decrease in India due to poisoning by diclofenac, the veterinary drug non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), that causes kidney failure in birds eating the carcasses of treated cattle. Meloxicam (another NSAID) has been found to be harmless to vultures and should prove to be an acceptable substitute. In March 2006 diclofenac is still being used for animals throughout India and the changes in Indian legislation are awaited. It is hoped that meloxicam will be as cheap as diclofenac when it is mass produced [1].
To maintain a stock of the vultures - which have already completely diappeared from most areas - for reintroduction, a captive breeding program was instated. Two chicks, which were apparently the first captive-bred Indian White-rumped Vultures ever, hatched in January, 2007, at a facility at Pinjore. However, they died after a few weeks, apparently due to the fact that their parents were an inexperienced couple breeding for the first time in their lives - a fairly common occurrence in birds of prey [2].
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Gyps bengalensis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is critically endangered
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