Saving vultures in India (E)
Vultures are the flying scavengers of nature and a very important part of the ecosystem but in the last two decades or so, they started dying out and that remained a mystery as to why they dying, till it has postulated that a pharma chemical diclofenac was poisoning the vultures. A major effort was made to save them from extinction and captive breeding center was started at Pinjore. The Gyps Vultures faced near-extinction owing to the use of diclofenac a drug used for treating livestock, which caused vultures to die when they fed on contaminated carcasses. Responding to a Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) campaign against the drug, the Government of India banned its veterinary use in the country in 2006. Now scientists from BNHS, with the help of the Government of India, have scripted a success story in the conservation of Gyps Vultures namely Oriental White-backed Vulture; Gyps bengalensis, Long-billed Vulture; Gyps indicus and Slender-billed Vulture; Gyps tenuirostris. The Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore, Haryana is great place to see the bounce back of vultures. They have helped re-wild captive born vultures and helped vultures from going extinct. "
