KARACHI: Speakers at a symposium on Monday highlighted the need for efforts at local, national and regional level to prepare and implement an effective strategy for protection and conservation of vulture populations.

Organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Baanh Beli in collaboration with the ministry of climate change under a USAID-funded project, the programme was attended by experts from India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Nepal, among others.

The purpose of the symposium was to bring together regional vulture experts to learn from their experiences and knowledge of conservation of these important birds in Asia.

In her opening remarks, IUCN regional director Asia Aban Marker Kabraji said her organisation would continue to promote dialogue on natural resource issues between people from various fields, sectors and government tiers.

While appreciating government efforts in scaling-up conservation programmes, she highlighted need for transboundary vulture safe zones to conserve vulture populations in the wild.

Speaking through Skype, director species at the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan Dr Uzma Khan briefed the audience about the Gyps Vulture Restoration Project, which was started in Changa Manga, Lahore, over a decade ago. The cultivated forest had the largest colony (758 pairs) of white-backed vultures prior to the decline in their population.

“The key objective was to conserve a viable population of the white-backed vulture by monitoring their population in the wild and lobbying for the complete removal of diclofenac and other harmful drugs,” she said.

Regarding the in-situ conservation work being carried out in Nagarparkar, Dr Khan said the number of active nests of white-backed vultures had increased from 12 in 2011 to 31 last year whereas the number of active nests of long-billed vultures had raised from 172 to 183 during the same period.

Ban all harmful drugs

On challenges in vulture conservation, she said lack of resources had prevented implementation of a vulture conservation programme in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir areas. She said there was a need to declare safe vulture zones in these places.

Though diclofenac sodium was banned for veterinary use in the country, three human formulations of the drug (one local and two imported from China) were available at medical stores in Nagarparkar, she said, adding that no significant progress had been made in dialogue with the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) to ban the veterinary use of ketoprofen and acelofenac, other drugs harmful for vultures, at the national level.

Suggesting measures for vulture conservation, she said acelofenac, ketoprofen and flunixin must not be allowed in veterinary practice while the Karoonjhar Hills in Nagarparkar should be legally protected to save the nests of critically endangered long-billed vultures.

Deputy director at the Bombay Natural History Society, which has led the vulture conservation movement in India, Dr Vibhu Prakash gave a presentation on the ex-situ (off-site) conservation actions and re-introduction of the critically endangered vultures in Haryana, India. He said a 99.9pc decline in the population of white-backed vultures and 16.1pc decline in the numbers of long-billed vultures was observed between 1992 and 2007. “It was found that the birds were dying of visceral gout, a disease in which kidney failure causes a build up of uric acid on internal organs. A perfect correlation between visceral gout and diclofenac residue in the vulture tissue was established in 2004 in Pakistan,” he said.

In the same year, a post-mortem examination of the remains of vulture in India indicated that 76pc of dead vultures had visceral gout and a correlation between visceral gout and diclofenac residue in the vulture tissues was established.

“Vultures are exposed to diclofenac when they feed on carcasses of livestock that have died within a few days of administration of the drug,” he said.

According to him, the main components of the vulture conservation programme in India included monitoring of the prevalence of toxic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) in cattle carcasses, establishment of safe zones for vultures, nation-wide surveys to assess the population of vultures and their breeding and reintroduction into the wild.

“Diclofenac was banned in 2008 but it soon became clear that the problem had not been eradicated and vulture deaths were continuing. The reason was diclofenac use in human formulations, which was later strictly restricted,” he said.

The project was successfully going on and now efforts were under way to re-introduce the species into the wild, he said.

Principal investigator of the white-rumped vulture conservation project of IUCN in Bangladesh, A.B.M. Sarowar Alam, said the government approved a national plan for vulture conservation and a dedicated team for this purpose. He said two safe zones were also established for vultures.

Head of the natural resources group, IUCN, Asia, Dr Scott Perkin, vulture conservation officer in Nepal Khadananda Paudel, federal climate change secretary Syed Abu Ahmad Akif and Senator Saleem Zia, the chief guest, also spoke.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2016