General note:

Vultures are an integral component of ecosystems, vital for controlling disease spill over between wildlife, livestock, and humans. An estimated 500 million cattle are in India, and only 4% consume by humans as meat. The decline in vultures has been linked to increases in the populations of scavenging mammals, notably feral dogs. The rise in feral dogs has been shown to not only significantly increase the risk of rabies transmission to humans in India, but also further exacerbate the risk of livestock predation. Estimates have put the economic cost of this loss as high as $34 billion to deal with the rabies crisis alone.

The increase of the feral dogs turn increases the risk of carcass-poisoning by herders to control the dogs, with the high probability of depressing vulture populations even further. The catastrophic decline in vulture numbers therefore represents a crisis for nature and people.

The principal cause of vulture population decline was attributed to poisoning by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that includes Diclofenac, Aceclofenac, Ketoprofen and Nimesulide. The Government of India has already banned the use of all of them in veterinary treatment.

Following the identification of the vulture crisis in India, the South Asian Vulture Recovery Plan was initiated in 2004, and captive breeding of critically endangered Gyps vultures has been conducted since 2006. Simultaneously work has focused on population and habitat protection which has provided critical support for the species.

However, direct engagement with communities has been limited. Our aim is to complement these ongoing conservation initiatives, through active community engagement and participation to better understand and address human-vulture conflict. Community participation in vulture conservation is essential since most vulture deaths arise from accidental poisonings by livestock herders targeting feral dogs that predate their animals. Vultures, which often feed in large numbers, are disproportionately affected by such poisonings. By working with communities to develop solutions that meet their needs and raising awareness of the vital role vultures play in the ecosystem, there is a genuine opportunity to address these challenges and enable the coexistence of people and vultures.  

Our mission aims to prevent poisoning incidents and help the recovery of some of India’s most important populations of critically endangered vultures by implementing a community-led vulture conservation initiative in Assam.