Cambodia launches restaurants for vultures

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq2k5GTd7c0

In a bid to conserve species hit by farming drug, locals prepare safe carcasses.


10 Feb 2012
Al Jazeera

In a bid to save Southeast Asia's dwindling population of the birds, Cambodia has created what they call 'vulture restaurants', where specially carved carcasses are laid out for the scavengers.

The so-called restaurants are the latest step in a programme to save the three species of the bird that have been nearly wiped out because of the widespread use of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in farming.

The presence of just one per cent of the drug in a carcass can kill the birds, whose diet is exclusively the meat of dead animals.

Al Jazeera's Stephanie Scawen reports from Veal Krous.

Cambodia sees declining vulture population: new census

... The CPP VULTURES are still prospering though

June 30, 2011
Xinhua

The number of the critically endangered vultures in Cambodia has declined 7.6 percent to 267 in June this year from 289 at this time last year, according to the vulture census released on Thursday.

The census was conducted by Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project (CVCP) in cooperation with the ministries of environment and agriculture.

Song Chansocheat, the manager of CVCP, said the census had been done simultaneously on June 10 and 20 in seven different jungles in the provinces of Preah Vihear, Stung Treng, Mondolkiri and Rattanakiri, where the vultures are living.

... Mongabay failed to report another flock of vultures that rebounds in Cambodia

Reunion of Cambodia's flock of Huns (Photo: Koh Santepheap)

Vulture Restaurants a Hit in Cambodia

2010-05-18
New Tang Dynasty TV

When they're serving carcass of buffalo at the vulture restaurant in Siem Pang district, there's no shortage of lunchtime patrons. In Cambodia, the vultures are an endangered species, and conservationists have established a chain of eateries like this one, in the hope of bringing them back.

[Net Norin, Birdlife International in Indochina]:
"We preserve the vulture because they are near extinct in the world so we, the Birdlife International organization, are trying to preserve them by giving them dead cows or buffalos each month."

A lack of food is the principle reason for the vulture's decline in Cambodia. Uncontrolled hunting of wild animals is cited as one reason. Tighter controls by farmers over livestock that used to roam freely, is another. In India, the same vulture species have been decimated by the drug Diclofenac used to keep livestock healthy but toxic to vultures feeding on the carcasses.

The restaurant program in Cambodia, however, is showing positive results for the species as a whole.

[Pich Bunnat,Widlife Conservation Society]:
"Since we started our vulture preservation project in 2004 till now the numbers of vultures have increased. For example, we surveyed the whole country in 2004 and found 140 vultures. Then another survey in June 2009 found we had up to 286 vultures. So the numbers have increased and the villagers received a lot of knowledge about preserving the vulture because they see more and more tourists come to visit this area which they benefit from."

And raising awareness about the plight of the vulture may well be key to their long-term survival. In the meantime, there's nothing like a free lunch.

Cambodian Vulture Nests Offer Hope For Species

This slender-billed vulture nest is one of several recently discovered by conservationists in the forests of Cambodia. The breeding colony is currently the only one known in Southeast Asia. (Credit: WCS Cambodia Program)

Science Daily — Working in the remote forests of Cambodia, conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have just discovered Southeast Asia's only known breeding colony of slender-billed vultures, one of the world's most threatened bird species.

Found in heavily forested country just east of the Mekong River in Cambodia's Stung Treng Province, the colony also represents one of the only known slender-billed vulture nesting areas in the world, and therefore one of the last chances for recovery for the species, now listed as "Critically Endangered" by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

"We discovered the nests on top of a hill where two other vulture species were also found, one of which--the white-rumped vulture--is also 'Critically Endangered'," said Song Chansocheat, manager of the Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project, a government project supported by WCS, BirdLife International, World Wildlife Fund, the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. "Amazingly, there were also a host of other globally threatened species of birds and primates. It's a very special place."

Chansocheat's team immediately set-up 24-hour protection measures against poaching and egg collecting, and are now working with local communities to ensure that they are involved in--and support--longer-term conservation measures. "We already have a successful WCS model working in the Northern Plains where local people benefit from conservation activities. I think we have a good chance of making it work here if we can find the support."

The slender-billed vulture is one of several vulture species in Asia that have been driven to the brink of extinction across its entire range due to Diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug used for cattle that is highly toxic to vultures. Diclofenac has lead to global population declines as high as 99 percent in slender-billed and other vulture species. Diclofenac is now being slowly phased out in South Asia, but not at a pace that assures the recovery of the vultures. Because Diclofenac is almost entirely absent from use in Cambodia, the country remains one of the main hopes for the survival of the species. However, these birds are still endangered from other threats, such as a lack of food due to the over-hunting of large-bodied mammals, loss of habitat, and sometimes direct hunting.

The Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project has already been successful in helping stem the decline in Asia's vultures in Cambodia through a combination of scientific research, direct protection, food supplementation and awareness-raising. Satellite-collaring of animals has lead to a greater understanding of which areas are important to the two most threatened species, while simultaneous vulture 'restaurants' across the country provide both an additional food source for the birds and a chance to undertake coordinated counts to monitor the size and structure of the population.

Chansocheat remains optimistic, adding "We have the backing of local people and of the Government. If we can find financial support to extend what we know is already a successful strategy, then we should be able to conserve these species forever."

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Wildlife Conservation Society.