Changa Manga’s ‘Vulture Restaurant’, a successful effort to save endangered vultures

WWF’s vulture breeding habitat in Changa Manga has started yielding positive results and the number of white-rumped vultures from birth to adulthood in the artificial habitat called ‘Vulture Restaurant’ has reached 32. has gone

For the survival of the vulture, an endangered carrion-eating bird, the vulture is being protected in the rural areas of Sindh across Pakistan, while breeding initiatives are also underway in some districts of Punjab. It is an initial attempt.

Under regular planning, this habitat was established by WWF Pakistan in the year 2015, which has started getting promising results, so far, around 32 white-rumped vultures (white-backed vultures) have been bred in this vulture restaurant.

According to WWF Senior Manager Research and Conservation Muhammad Jamshed Iqbal Chaudhry, 8 years ago, this series was started with adult vultures of the above mentioned vulture breed, during which 2 to 3 children from eggs became part of the nickel cross group every year.

The construction of this artificial maintenance and breeding place (habitat) is made of different types of wood and grass in addition to iron structures and iron nets. During the preparation of the artificial nests, it was kept in mind that this habitat can completely represent the natural habitat and the newborns Vultures can breed in it.

According to Jamshed Iqbal, a survey was conducted in about 38 districts of Punjab two years ago, in which it was revealed that three types of painkillers, which play a key role in the extinction of donkeys, are still being administered to animals during various diseases. .

They say that the vulture is an animal in which rabies disease is not found. After the genocide of the rabies, now the rabies disease is spreading in different stray animals on the ground and is being transferred from one animal to another, because in the natural system, all of the vultures are The main task is the cleaning of dead animals.

Experts say that in the early 90s, the number of donkeys in Pakistan was in the millions, however, the species of donkeys started to disappear from 1997. After eating the food, the kidneys of these donkeys stopped working, after which their deaths started to be recorded in large numbers.

According to experts, the vulture is a bird whose food depends on dead meat, dead animals are the favorite food of this heavy bird, in the context of the extinction of vultures a few years ago, it was concluded that the painkillers administered to animals in various diseases in livestock. Indiscriminate use of the injection caused the death of the bird.

Experts say that after eating a dead animal infected with drugs given to animals for various diseases, the vulture’s kidneys fail, which later causes its death.

In addition to Pakistan, in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, the griffon vulture, black vulture, Turkish and Egyptian vulture species have suffered from extinction.

According to WWF technical director Muzam Khan, 7 out of 8 species of vultures found in the world were found in Sindh and Balochistan. .

Due to the decrease in the number of vultures, the number of other animals has increased dramatically. The use of other painkillers is common, especially in rural areas, for the survival of vultures, a permanent ban on the use of this drug is indispensable.