Lok Sabha Question No. 2065 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-30
Subject: Conservation of Vultures
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Dhanush M Kumar, C.N. Annadurai, Ganesan Selvam, Gautham Sigamani Pon, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Vijay Kumar Dubey, B. Y. Raghavendra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2065

TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2021

## Conservation of Vultures

## 2065.   SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI VIJAY KUMAR DUBEY:

SHRI B.Y. RAGHAVENDRA:

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

- (a) whether  the  National  Board  for  Wildlife  has  approved  an  action  plan  for  vulture conservation recently and if so, the details of the said action plan;
- (b) whether  the  Government  had  been  successful  in  implementing  conservation  plan  of vultures which was formulated in the year 2006 and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the  Government proposes to establish  new  vulture  conservation  centres  in  the country  including  Tamil  Nadu  and  if  so,  the  time  by  which  it  is  likely  to  be  set  up, State/UT-wise;
- (d) whether nine species of vultures present in India are facing the danger of extinction and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the other steps taken by the Government for conservation of vultures?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) The Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife in its 59 th meeting held on 5 th October,  2020  has  recommended  the  Action  Plan  for  Vulture  Conservationin India, 2020-2025. Some of the important objectives of the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation are as follows:
- i. Prevention  of  poisoning  of  cattle  carcasses,the  principal  food  of  vultures, with veterinary Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs ( NSAID) and carrying out safety-testing  of new veterinary  NSAIDs on vultures, prior to commercial release.
- ii. Removal  of  drugs  from  veterinary  use  if  they  are  found  to  be  toxic  to vultures with the help of Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
- iii. Establishing  additional  Vulture  Conservation  Breeding  Centres  (VCBC)  in the country.
- iv. Enhancement of conservation breeding programme of Red Headed Vulture and Egyptian Vulture and establishing at least one Vulture Safe Zone in each State for the conservation of the remnant populations in that State.
- v. Establishing 4 rescue centres in different geographical areas, viz.,Pinjore in North  India,  Bhopal  in  Central  India,  Guwahati  in  North-east  India  and Hyderabad in South India. There are currently no dedicated rescue centres for treatment of vultures. One centre would also be established in Karnataka.
- (b) The Government of India has taken various steps for the Vulture Conservation in the country based on the recommendations of the Vulture Action Plan released in 2006. Some of the important steps includes:
- i. Veterinary use of the drug diclofenac was banned in the year 2006.
- ii. In  the  year  2015,  the  Government  of  India  directed  that  only  single  dose vials of diclofenac could be used for human consumption.
- iii. For  Ex-situ  conservation  of  vultures,  eight  Vulture  Conservation  Breeding Centres have been established in different States of the country. Four of the centres,  viz.,Pinjore  in  Haryana,  Rajabhatkhawa  in  West  Bengal,  Rani  in Assam  and  Kerwa  near  Bhopal  are  managed  by  respective  State  Forest Departments  with  support  from  Bombay  Natural  History  Society  and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.Four more centres viz. Junagarh in Gujarat, Nandankanan in Odisha, Hyderabad in Telangana and Muta in Ranchi are established in the State Zoos and are being run by State Forest  Departments  with  support  from  Central  Zoo  Authority  (CZA)  of MoEF&CC and technical support from Bombay Natural History Society.
- iv. Vulture reintroduction programme has been launched from Pinjore, Haryana and Rajabhatkhawa, West Bengal centres for augmenting the populations for vultures.
- v. Eight sites have been identified for the establishment of Vulture Safe Zones in different parts of the Country for conservation of the remnant populations of Vultures.
- (c) The Action Plan for Vulture Conservationin India, 2020-2025 has identified setting up Vulture Conservation Breeding Centres in the States of Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as one of the priority actions for vulture conservation. The Ministry has requested the State Governments to take action as per the Action Plan.
- (d) As  per  information  available  in  the  Ministry,  the  population  of  three  species  of Vultures, viz., Gyps indicus, Gyps bengalensis and Gyps tenuirostris , had drastically declined during the 1990s. However, due to the concerted efforts by the Government,  the  population  of  these  vulture  species  has  stabilized  now.  The population estimation of other species of Vultures is not collated in the Ministry.
- (e) The important steps taken by the Government to save the vultures and increase their number are as follows:
- i. All the species of Vultures have been listed in the Schedules of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- ii. The Government of India has recently launched an Action Plan for Vulture Conservation (2020-2025) on 9th November, 2020.
- iii. The vial size of the drug diclonofec has been restricted to 3ml to prevent its use in livestock.
- iv. Safety  testing  of  various  veterinary  non-steroidal  antiinflammatory  drugs, available in the market to identify their toxicity to vultures.
- v. Establishing vulture safe  zones in different parts of the country for conservation of the remnant population of vultures.
- vi. Raising awareness especially among users of veterinary formulations.
- vii. Ministry  sponsored  films  'The  Last  Flight'  and  'Vanishing  Vultures'  are frequently telecasted on radio and television in order to raise awareness on vulture  conservation.  States  have  been  requested  to  develop  education  and awareness materials, keeping the Animal Husbandry sectors and farmers in mind.
- viii. Eight Vulture Conservation Breeding Centres have been established in India.
- ix. The Indian Veterinary Research Institute led a research study funded by the Ministry to identify a safe alternative to diclofenac by carrying out safetytesting of the shortlisted drug meloxicam on vultures, in collaboration with BNHS and the Royal Society  for  the  Protection  of  Birds,  an  international bird  conservation  organization  based  in  the  United  Kingdom.  Meloxicam was  proved  to  be  safe  for  vultures  and  was  promoted  as  an  alternative  to diclofenac.
- x. Government of India provides funding support to the States under Centrally Sponsored Scheme- Development of Wildlife Habitats for conservation of Vultures under the Species Recovery Programme.

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