Abstract
Of the nine Accipitridae vulture species found within Nepal the IUCN categorises White-rumped, Indian Vulture, Slender-billed and Red-headed Vultures as Critically Endangered and Egyptian Vulture as Endangered. Dramatic declines have occurred since the mid 1990s with the White-rumped Vulture, Indian Vulture and Slender-billed Vulture population declining by over 97%. The remaining species are listed as Near Threatened or Least Concern. Veterinary use of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac has been proven to be a key threat in the region for Gyps vultures and appears likely that it may also affect other Accipitridae vultures. The drug is transferred to vultures via consumption of dead livestock carcass. Ingestion of the drug causes visceral gout and kidney failure, which leads to the birds death. Consumption of diclofenac and the majority of other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are fatal to individuals. Only one NSAID, meloxicam, has been tested and proven safe for vultures. There are other factors such as food shortage in local scale, habitat loss, climate change and pesticides/poisoning that play some role on population decline. Managing vulture conservation across Nepal can be problematic just as it is throughout the Indian subcontinent due to the variable level of protection afforded to vultures through legislation and enforcement in each political region particularly regarding NSAID regulation and use. However, great gains have been made on removing diclofenac from sale within the Indian subcontinent. Continuing and enhancing the holistic conservation approach between all stakeholders, government and non-government organisations, across the species range is required to conserve them for future generations. Indeed, it is likely that a number of species will become extinct if a greater conservation effort is not forthcoming in the very near future.
Highlights
Nepal supports nine Accipitridae vulture species (Baral et al 2003; DeCandido et al 2012; International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2012h; Subedi & DeCandido unpub.)
There has been a catastrophic decline in the populations of three Gyps species in the Indian subcontinent, White-rumped Vulture, Indian Vulture and Slender-billed Vulture (Table 2) (Gilbert et al 2002; Prakash et al 2003)
Cinereous Vultures qualify as Near Threatened. They have a moderately small population that appears to be suffering an ongoing decline in its Asiatic strongholds, even though in parts of Europe numbers are increasing (IUCN 2012a)
Summary
Nepal supports nine Accipitridae vulture species (Baral et al 2003; DeCandido et al 2012; IUCN 2012h; Subedi & DeCandido unpub.). These are Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus, Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus, White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis, Indian Vulture G. indicus) (recent visitor), Slender-billed Vulture G. tenuirostris, Himalayan Vulture G. himalayensis, Griffon Vulture G. fulvus (a passage migrant), Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus (a winter visitor) and Red-headed Vulture Sarcogyps calvus. Study Area Nepal is located between two of the world’s most highly populated countries, China to the north and India to the south, east and west. It is located between 26020’– 30026’N & 80015’–88010’E. The significant differences in climatic conditions are principally correlated with the enormous variation in altitude from the south to the north of the country (Savada 1991; RAOnline 2010a)
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