Vulnerable vultures

The Last Hope, by wildlife filmmaker Neloy Bandyopadhyay, deals with endangered Asian vultures, particularly of the Gyps family which includes the white-backed, slender-billed and Himalayan griffon sub-species, among others. Viewers of the film will be alarmed to learn that in just two decades the scavengers’ numbers have fallen from 40 million to an estimated population of 4,000 in India.

Bandyopadhyay told Time Out Mum­bai (June 10-23, 2011): "I didn’t want to limit the film to any communities, which is why I haven’t mentioned the Parsis. The vulture is important not only for the Parsis, but to mankind in general. They keep our environment clean and in their absence, dead animals left around become (a) source of disease.” In order to create awareness about the plight of these vultures Bandyopadhyay is handing out free copies of his film. Those interested may contact him at bneloy@gmail.com

Meanwhile, the Nilgiri Wildlife and Environmental Association has sent a detailed proposal to the forest department of the state of Tamil Nadu to create an exclusive sanctuary for vultures on the Sigur Plateau in the Nilgiris, mentioned The Times of India (TOI) in its issue dated November 7, 2011. Around 200 white-backed vultures and long-billed vultures were found there recently. "The area along with Wayanad in Kerala and Bandipur in Karnataka constitutes the largest dwelling place for vultures,” R. Raghuram Singh, field director of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve informed TOI. According to him, the open forests and scrub jungle keep the raptors comfortable and due to proximity to the migratory paths of wild animals of the Eastern and Western Ghats, there is an ample supply of carcasses for the scavenging birds to feed on.