Vultures number declined by “Meal Of Death”

“Meal of Death’ killing the vultures in Assam, battling with the toxic chemicals is the main cause of the gathering of carcasses all over the reported place. The finding of symptoms of toxic chemicals in carcasses is the result of their feeding where the toxicity extremely contained. The digestive system of vultures that they can tolerate bacteria and natural toxins in the putrefying meat they are vulnerable to chemicals such as diclofenac, present in the carcasses of cattle that were injected with the painkiller

The ‘meal of death’ that is killing them is also delaying freedom for vultures being reared in captivity in the State. The Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre (VCBC) at Rani, about 30 km west of Guwahati, is one of four in India that the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) set up more than a decade ago in association with State Forest Departments.

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The VCBC has 104 vultures, most of them brought in as chicks from the wild. The center has 30 adults and sub-adults: all oriental white-backed and slender-billed. These are two of six species found in Assam that are old enough to be set free.

The release of the vultures getting delayed because of the toxic problem, big vials of diclofenac, a painkiller, banned three years ago but allowed to be sold if manufactured before December 2015, are yet to expire. Rampant use of pesticides by farmers and more than 70,000 tea gardens is another cause of the deaths of vaulters.