Vulture population in India has sharply come down to about four lakh from four crore in the last three decades, according to environment minister Prakash Javadekar.
The Minister made this revelation during a press conference as part of the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals to be held in Gandhinagar in Gujarat from February 15 to 22.
Javedekar has attributed the decrease in vulture population to the consumption of dead cattle by these scavengers. These dead cattle had been given ‘diclofenac’ drug, which is a Vet medicine. It has been detected that scavengers that feed on dad cattle that had been given the drug had led to its death.
There is already a demand for a complete ban on using ‘diclofenac’ drug. However, the country has not yet banned the medicine. The southern state of Tamil Nadu is the only state in the country that has banned the drug.
The vultures are carrion-eaters and are very much useful for the ecosystem.
On the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, the minister said that eminent environmentalists, conservationists, animal and bird lovers from about 130 countries would be participating in the conference
