According to the local farmers, they have been seeing this bird basking in the sun around theit mustard fields for quite some time. Some of them said they were seeing these"beauties" for the first time even though some elderly farmers claimed that there used to be many vultures in Saketri in yesteryears. They conceded that their population had almost vanished in the past few years and it was indeed delightful to see them back again. All of them agreed that these vultures pose no threat to their fields, rather they have a great role to play in keeping the area clean.
No doubt the vultures are useful scavenger as they feed feed on flesh of dead animals and hence keeps the environment clean. Further, their eating away the dead flesh keep the spread of related diseases from decaying carcasses at bay.
The population of Egyptian vultures as well as other species of vultures in the Indian sub-continent has seen a drastic decline alarming the environmentalists and various projects including one near Pinjore under the aegis of BNHS have been taken up to reverse the trend. Various reasons have been cited for their decline , such as poisoning, electrocution, scarcity of food, habitat loss and more significantly due to the toxic effect of veterinary drug Diclofenac through livestock carcasses. The Government banned the use of Diclofenac for veterinary purposes way back in 2006.
The Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is one among nine vulture species available in the Indian sub-continent. Its range is widely distributed across Europe, Africa and Asia. Even though their primary food is flesh of dead animals, they do prey on on small mammals, birds, and reptiles and also feed on the eggs of other birds. They are also referred to as white scavenger vultures or pharaoh's chickens.
The accompanying photo was clicked in Saketri on 06 February 2019.
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