Vultures on the edge of extinction: Study

Vultures are on the verge of extinction in Bangladesh due to a lack of safe shelter and safe food, which causes an increase in certain diseases, according to a study.

"Vultures play a critical role in maintaining the ecosystem by controlling the spread of diseases to humans. Unfortunately, 99.9% of the vultures in South Asia have disappeared over the past couple of decades," said ABM Sarwar Alam, senior programme officer at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Bangladesh, at a programme marking the International Vulture Awareness Day 2022 organised by the Forest Department on Saturday in the capital.

Only 260 vultures and two vulture breeding colonies are left in Bangladesh, he added.

In the keynote speech, Sarwar Alam said that among innumerous threats faced by vultures in Bangladesh, the veterinary painkilling drug is mostly responsible for the vulture tragedy in South Asia. There are 23 species of vulture species in the world, including nine in the Indian Sub-continent. In Bangladesh, there are seven species, of which one is considered extinct.

Sarwar Alam said vultures are infected when they consume dead cattle which were provided with drugs like Diclofenac and Ketoprofen. They lose their ability to fly and die due to kidney failure. The decline of vultures has increased diseases including rabies, anthrax, etc.

Although the production, use and marketing of Diclofenac were banned in 2010 and Ketoprofen in 2021, Ketoprofen is still used in Bangladesh, said Sarwar Alam.

Vultures cleanse the environment and contribute to maintaining the ecosystem so everyone has to be aware to save this useful bird, he added.

At the programme, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Shahab Uddin said the government has taken many steps to protect vultures from extinction in the country.

The minister said the formation of the "Bangladesh National Vulture Conservation Committee", the official declaration of two vulture safe zones and the ten-year (2016-2025) "Bangladesh Vulture Conservation Action Plan" serve as a long-term framework for protecting Bangladesh's vultures.

Chief Conservator of Forests Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury said at present, vultures are seen in Rema Kalenga of Habiganj, Sundarbans and Mymensingh. Vultures build their nests in tall trees. Several lakhs of palm trees have been planted.

"Project Tiger was launched in 1972 to protect tigers in India and is still ongoing in various phases. The project did not stop even for a day. We also need such long-term financing in vulture protection projects," said Amir Hossain.