A vulture breeding centre was announced by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa in the Karnataka budget on Thursday. The centre was announced in an effort to help the beleaguered long-billed vulture population thrive in the region. The cost of the breeding centre was set at Rs 2 crore.
“The state government has acted right before these birds became extinct from the region. I had written a couple of letters to the local forest officials asking a breeding centre and it has been answered,” said Shashikumar, a volunteer at the sanctuary, who expressed concern over the dwindling numbers of long-billed vultures.
Deputy Conservator of Forests SN Hegade says that Ramadevarabetta, a vulture sanctuary in Ramanagara district, will be the release centre, while breeding of vultures will take place in captivity at Bannerghatta. It was not immediately clear when the centre would become operational.
The vulture population in Karnataka was on the brink of disappearance as data suggests that the population had dropped 97% for the long-billed vulture and 99% for Egyptian vultures. Long-billed vultures reduced from about 20 to only six in the region. The long-billed vultures share their sanctuary with Egyptian vultures, which are about 30 in number and constantly move from the sanctuary to other locations, Shashikumar said.
Volunteers and conservationists had long fought for the long-billed vulture. Activists rallied for the protection of the bird and demanded that the Ramadevarabetta be declared a vulture sanctuary. It was ultimately granted that status by the state government in 2012.
The reason for the fast disappearance of long-billed vultures at Ramadevarabetta is attributed to a shortage of food. Shashikumar says that vultures are scavengers which feed on carcasses of the dead. In the past, villagers would dump or discard dead cows and buffaloes in the nearby forest and vultures fed on them. But, in recent years, farmers no longer dump these carcasses and instead bury them to claim insurance, among other factors.
“Non-availability of dead animals in the vicinity has made vultures migrate elsewhere in search of food. It is one of the reasons for the disappearance of long-billed vultures” a volunteer says.
Experts have also noted that the veterinary use of the now-banned Diclofenac drugs for cattle also played a role in the deteriorating numbers.
The new breeding centre will be set-up on the model of the Haryana Vulture Breeding Centre. Last February, a scientist attached to the Haryana Breeding Centre Dr Vibha Prakash visited Ramadevara Betta, after which a proposal was created by forest officials to open a breeding centre to revive the long-billed vulture population in Ramanagara.
Such breeding centres for vultures are operational in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and West Bengal, besides Haryana. The Karnataka centre will be the fifth in the country.
Chris Bowden, who works for Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, United Kingdom, and has also worked with breeding centres in the country, says these centres have been successful for breeding vultures. This season, Bowden says that as many as 60 chicks were born in captivity and 40 of them in Haryana centre alone.
Bowden has been working for vulture conservation programmes in Asia for 16 years and has been informally associated with Ramadevarabetta. He has frequently given suggestions to the local forest officials on efforts to revive the dwindling long-billed vulture population.
“With the breeding centre coming up, if serious and committed efforts are made by forest staff, then the vulture population will recover at Ramadevara Betta and script a success story like other breeding centres of the country,” he says.
Initially, it was the efforts of Shivananjaiah, a local wildlife enthusiast and a photographer, that highlighted the plight of long-billed vultures. Ornithologist Dr Subramanya of GKVK (Gandhi Krishi Vigyana Kendra) also joined in the conservation efforts and added pressure onto the state government for sanctuary status.
When CP Yogeshwar, MLA of Channapatna, which neighbours Ramanagara, was the minister for forests, Ramadevara Betta gained attention and was declared a sanctuary. Since its declaration as a sanctuary, trekking and film-shootings have come to a halt, which allows the vultures to live without disturbance.
Later, the Forest Department in association with the Karnataka Vulture Conservation Trust conducted various awareness programmes in the region to promote knowledge on vulture conservation.
Photos by Shashikumar