Lok Sabha Question No. 5495 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-26
Subject: Protection and Conservation of Vultures and Eagles Population
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Devusinh Jesingbhai Chauhan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 5495

TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.07.2019

## Protection and Conservation of Vultures and Eagles Population

## 5495. SHRI DEVUSINHJESING BHAI CHAUHAN:

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND  CLIMATE  CHANGE be  pleased  to state:

- (a) whether there has been a sharp decline in the Vulture and Eagle population in the country over the years and if so, the details thereof, and the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether the Government has received reports of death of Vultures and Eagles due to drug poisoning in some parts of the country including Rajasthan;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the action being taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (e) the strategy likely to be formulated by the Government for protection and conservation of Eagles and Vultures?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

- (a) There has been a sharp decline in the vulture populations which was first noticed in  the  mid-nineties  and  by  2007,  there was  a  99%  decline  in  the  population  of three  resident  Gyps  species  of  vulture  viz.  White-backed  Vulture,  Long-billed Vulture and Slender-billed Vulture. By the year 2011, the population though very small appeared to be establishing but during the year 2015, it was noticed that the White-backed Vulture population was stable but for Long-billed Vulture, it was still  declining.  The  major  cause  of  mortality  of  vultures  was  found  to  be  the veterinary  non-steroidal  anti-inflammatory  drug 'Diclofenac',  given  to  cattle  in pain and inflammation.

As  per  the  information  received  from  Wildlife  Institute  of  India  (WII)  and Bombay  Natural  History  Society  (BNHS),  there  is  no  systematic data  on population of Eagles, however, it has been reported that 'Diclofenac' has adverse effect on  Eagles also.

- (b), (c) and (d) Several States in the country including the State of Rajasthan have informed the Ministry that there is no report of Vulture and Eagle deaths due to drug poisoning. However, the  State  of  Assam  has  informed  about  the  deaths  of  Vultures  in  the

State due to drug poisoning.No such deaths of Eagles due to drug poisoning has been reported by Assam State.

The  numbers  of  death  records  of  Vultures  in  Assam  due  to  consumption  of poisoned carcass during the last three years and the current year are as follows:

|   S. No. | Year             |   No. of deaths due to consuming of drug poisoning |
|----------|------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | 2016             |                                                 51 |
|        2 | 2017             |                                                 19 |
|        3 | 2018             |                                                 56 |
|        4 | 2019 (till July) |                                                 42 |

The  actions  being  undertaken  by  the  State  Governmentin  this  regard  are  as follows:

- i. Strict vigilance are being kept on death of Vultures in the State of Assam. If any incidence of death is found, samples are immediately collected and sent for chemical/forensic test to determine the cause of death.
- ii. Awareness campaigns have been launched among the people in the State of Assam.
- iii. Eight Vulture safe zones have been identified in the Country including one (01)in Assam.
- iv. Rapid response teams have been constituted by the State Forest Department at some divisions/fields of Vultures populated area.
- v. Concerned Drugs Authority of the State of Assam, the Director, Agriculture, the Director of AnimalHusbandry & Veterinary Services have been requested to regulate the sale of the insecticidespoisonous to Vulture.
- vi. A  Conservation  Breeding  Programme  of  Gyps  species  of  Vulture  in Assam  by  the  State  Government  in  collaboration  with  Bombay  Natural History  Society(BNHS)  has  been  established  during  2007  and  has  been successfully conducting breeding progranme.
7. (e) The Government of India has formulated and is implementing several strategies for protection and conservation of Vultures and Eagles including the following:
- i. Based on the research carried out on the causes of vulture mortalities, the Government of  India  took  immediate  steps  to  ban  the  veterinary  use  of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) - Diclofenac, which was found to be the sole cause of mortality. The same drug was also found to be harmful for eagles.
- ii. The Government of India also restricted the packaging size of the human

formulation  of  the  diclofenac  drug  to  3ml  in  July  2015  to  prevent  the misuse of multi-dose vials available in 30 ml presentation in treating cattle.

- iii. To conserve the remnant population of vultures in the country and also to facilitate the reintroduction of vultures into the wild  from Vulture Conservation Breeding Centres (VCBCs), Eight (08) Vulture Safe Zones have been identified. As part of it, the area in a radius of 100 km around the  VCBCs is made secure by community participation by ensuring that there is no use of vulture toxic veterinary NSAID's, there is enough food and habitat and there is no other threat to vultures. This is done by targeted advocacy  and  awareness  programme.  These  Vultures  Safe  zones  would also act as safe and secure habitats for Eagles.
- iv. The  Ministry  has  sanctioned  a  project  to  Indian  Veterinary  Research Institute (IVRI), Uttar Pradesh titled 'Assessing the safety to vulture ( Gyps spp .) of non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID's) in veterinary use in India'. The total project cost is Rs. 2.71 Cr for a period of 3 years. The project  is  being  implemented  by  IVRI  in  collaboration  with  Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). An amount of Rs. 30.00 lakh has been released to IVRI as part of the installment during the FY 2018-19.
- v. The Ministry has reconstituted the 'National Vulture Recovery Committee'  to  oversee  and  guide  vulture  conservation  and  recovery efforts at the National Level.
- vi. India  is  a  signatory  to  the  Raptors  Memorandum  of  Understanding (Raptors  MoU)  of  the  Convention  for  Migratory  Species  of  the  United Nations  Environment  Program.  As  a  signatory  state,  India  has  been actively involved in preparation of Multi-Species Action Plan for Conservation  of  Vultures,  Eagles  etc.  and  is  taking  active  steps  for protection of these species.