Cambodia’s vulture comeback: Rebirth among birds of death

Vultures pause while having meal, a dead cow, in Dangplat, Cambodia. Pic: AP.

Jun 02, 2011

DANGPLAT, Cambodia (AP) — A wake of vultures perches on the bare branches of a towering tree, dark shapes silhouetted against a pale sky, sharp beaks and talons ready to tear apart a dead cow laid out in a Cambodian jungle clearing.

This manmade “vulture restaurant” is part of efforts across Asia to save the critically endangered bird from extinction. Now there are tentative signs they may be paying off.

The population of vultures in Cambodia has doubled to 300 from as few as 150 in 2004. In India, they are still dying off, but their rate of decline has fallen.

Vultures rebound in Cambodia; only Asian country with rising population

This 'venue' of vultures (a group of vultures can also be called a 'committee' or a 'wake') in this image includes slender billed (l), white-rumped (m), and red-headed vultures (r), all of which have persisted in Cambodia while other vulture populations in Asia have all but vanished. Photo credit: Hugh Wright. Caption: WCS

September 02, 2010
mongabay.com

The number of threatened vultures in Cambodia is on the rise according to a new survey by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other members of the Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project.

The annual census found 296 birds among the country's three vulture species: the white-rumped, red-headed, and slender billed. The population of the latter two species were flat since the 2009 tally, but the white-rumped vulture population rose. All three vulture species are listed as “Critically Endangered” by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Cambodia is now the only country in Asia where vulture populations are increasing. WCS explains: Vulture populations in Southeast Asia are primarily threatened by the declining number of large herbivores in the region, but have been largely unaffected by a far greater threat to Asia’s vultures: the veterinary drug diclofenac. Widely used as an anti-inflammatory drug for cattle in South Asia, diclofenac is toxic to vultures, causing death through renal failure and visceral gout to birds that feed on the cattle carcasses and has led to global population declines higher than 99 percent in some vulture species.

WCS says the vulture population in Cambodia is rebounding as a the result of several programs organized by the Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project. Localy commmunities are paid to protect vulture nests, while vulture food sources are supplemented by ‘vulture restaurants,’ feeding stations that also provide an opportunity to see the birds.

“By protecting nests and supplementing food supplies, we are saving some of the world’s largest and most charismatic birds,” stated Dr. Hugo Rainey, WCS technical advisor to the Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project. “Nowhere else in Asia do vultures have such a promising future.”

Still the conservation group is cautious. It says rising pesticide use for agriculture, which is shifting from small-holder to industrial operations, is a new threat.

"There have been increasing numbers of poisoned birds recently," said Song Chansocheat, Ministry of Environment and WCS Vulture Project Manager, in a statement. "Educating people about the risk to wildlife and people from incorrect use of poisons is important."

Bird, monkey species in Cambodia added to critically endangered list

September 19, 2007

Two types of birds and one species of monkey native to Cambodia have had their survival prospects worsen significantly in the past year, according to the World Conservation Union's 2007 "Red List", the most comprehensive annual assessment of the world's endangered animals and plants, local media reported Wednesday.

The red-headed vulture and the Bengal florican, once abundant in Cambodia, have been re-classified as critically endangered, meaning they face an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future, the Cambodia Daily newspaper said.

Meanwhile, the douc monkey has also been elevated to endangered status worldwide, according to the World Conservation Union, or IUCN.

Recent worldwide declines in the population of red-headed vultures are believed mainly to have been caused by the pharmaceutical Diclofenac, which is used to treat livestock but toxic to vultures that feed on their carcasses, the IUCN report said, adding that there could be as few as 300 of the vultures remaining in all of Southeast Asia.

The Bengal florican has declined to as few as 900 birds in Cambodia and could be extinct in the country within five years, the report stated.

The douc monkey also faces a very high risk of extinction in the near future, it said.

Tom Evans, technical adviser for the Wildlife Conservation Society, said the decline of the red-headed vulture in Cambodia was mainly due to less carrion on the ground than poisoning.

In fact, Diclofenac is not used in Cambodia, which could mean there is a good chance for the species to begin recover its numbers here, he said.

Included on the "Red List" are 26 animals, fish and plants found in Cambodia, which are listed as critically endangered, and some 36 species listed as endangered.

Source: Xinhua