About Those Birds

After nearly a decade, vultures are once again seen in Bihar, which is in Eastern India. Nests and babies have been sighted in the Valmiki Tiger Reserve. As many as four nests have been counted, which is a great increase from before when they were thought to be extinct. A few months ago a flock of about thirty vultures were sighted.

The reason for the vulture decline was the use of diclofenac, which is a veterinary medicine. The use of the medicine is the main reason for the vulture decline. The birds suffer from renal failure and eventually die. They ingest the medicine from dead carcasses. After the medicine was in tighter control, the vultures started to recover.

Recently a raid recovered over a thousand diclofenac vials that were going to be used for veterinary practices.

The ban of the medicine will enable the vultures to come back to the region, but this has not happened as of yet.

To me, India has always seemed a far off country with an interesting culture that I do not know much about. Not knowing much about the country also means not knowing much about its wildlife. A recent article in the Times of India accounts for some of the birds that future people of India may never see. Sparrows and mynahs may seem common in cities, but their numbers are declining. Only last week a rare sighting of a bearded vulture brings thoughts of the other endangered species in India.

Here are two of the endangered birds in India:

Great Indian Bustard

• About 400 – 500 left in the wild
• Once common, but rare today
• Habitat loss is one of the main reasons for the decline

Sarus Crane

• About 8,000 left in the wild
• This is the world’s tallest flying bird
• Habitat loss is also one of the main reasons for the decline

Bird species are happening all over the world and its difficult to look beyond our own borders. We need to because birds and other animals do not see borders. We need to conserve on a global basis, not just regional. That will be the best thing for birds and their other non-feathered friends. I hope to one day travel to India and see birds like these, but the clock ticks closer and closer to the end.

‘Till next time – enjoy!