At least 28 Slender-billed Vultures Gyps tenuirostris have been sighted in Siem Pang District, north-east Cambodia, at least four times as many as the previous largest single count in Indochina. Altogether more than 120 vultures were seen, including numbers of two Critically Endangered species—Slender-billed and White-rumped G. bengalensis Vultures. This is the largest single gathering recorded in Indochina during the past 15 years.
The discovery of significant numbers of White-rumped and Slender-billed (right, rear bird) Vultures in Cambodia gives hope a stronghold for these species can be maintained there
The recent discovery was made during a "vulture restaurant" training course held in Siem Pang District, Stung Treng Province, by BirdLife International and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Populations of both species, together with the Indian Vulture G. indicus, have declined dramatically in South Asia over the past decade, most severely in India, where numbers have dropped by 97 percent since 1993, and numbers are dropping by 30–40% annually in Pakistan. Research has revealed that these declines are caused by veterinary use of the drug diclofenac; vultures feeding on carcases of cattle treated with diclofenac are poisoned and die within a short time. BirdLife considers all three species to be in imminent danger of extinction, and has classified them as Critically Endangered.
“Fortunately, diclofenac appears to be rarely used for veterinary purposes in Cambodia”, said Dr Sean Austin, Country Manager for BirdLife International’s Cambodia Programme “so presently there are relatively few barriers to successful conservation of vultures in this country. Their greatest threats appear to be a lack of available food, by direct persecution through hunting, through capture for the pet trade and for their perceived medicinal value.”
In South Africa vulture feeding stations, known as vulture restaurants, have become tourist attractions, and this management strategy might be successfully implemented in Cambodia's protected areas and forests.
Given the catastrophic situation of vultures elsewhere in Asia, Cambodia could provide an important stronghold. “If South Asia's Griffon vultures go extinct, only two disparate wild populations of two species (White-rumped and Slender-billed) will exist, one in north-eastern Cambodia and southern Lao PDR, and one in Myanmar,” Dr Austin warns.
A working group has been formed from representatives of BirdLifeInternational, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the ministries of Environment and Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of the Royal Government of Cambodia. Its goal is to co-ordinate conservation activities for vultures and to develop a specific action and management strategy aimed at protecting vultures across northern Cambodia. The group was formed during a meeting of the Dry Forest Coalition (representatives from relevant NGOs and government institutions in Cambodia), whose goal is to bring an organised, cohesive conservation approach to the dry forests of central Indochina
The discovery of significant numbers of White-rumped and Slender-billed (right, rear bird) Vultures in Cambodia gives hope a stronghold for these species can be maintained there
The recent discovery was made during a "vulture restaurant" training course held in Siem Pang District, Stung Treng Province, by BirdLife International and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Populations of both species, together with the Indian Vulture G. indicus, have declined dramatically in South Asia over the past decade, most severely in India, where numbers have dropped by 97 percent since 1993, and numbers are dropping by 30–40% annually in Pakistan. Research has revealed that these declines are caused by veterinary use of the drug diclofenac; vultures feeding on carcases of cattle treated with diclofenac are poisoned and die within a short time. BirdLife considers all three species to be in imminent danger of extinction, and has classified them as Critically Endangered.
“Fortunately, diclofenac appears to be rarely used for veterinary purposes in Cambodia”, said Dr Sean Austin, Country Manager for BirdLife International’s Cambodia Programme “so presently there are relatively few barriers to successful conservation of vultures in this country. Their greatest threats appear to be a lack of available food, by direct persecution through hunting, through capture for the pet trade and for their perceived medicinal value.”
In South Africa vulture feeding stations, known as vulture restaurants, have become tourist attractions, and this management strategy might be successfully implemented in Cambodia's protected areas and forests.
Given the catastrophic situation of vultures elsewhere in Asia, Cambodia could provide an important stronghold. “If South Asia's Griffon vultures go extinct, only two disparate wild populations of two species (White-rumped and Slender-billed) will exist, one in north-eastern Cambodia and southern Lao PDR, and one in Myanmar,” Dr Austin warns.
A working group has been formed from representatives of BirdLifeInternational, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the ministries of Environment and Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of the Royal Government of Cambodia. Its goal is to co-ordinate conservation activities for vultures and to develop a specific action and management strategy aimed at protecting vultures across northern Cambodia. The group was formed during a meeting of the Dry Forest Coalition (representatives from relevant NGOs and government institutions in Cambodia), whose goal is to bring an organised, cohesive conservation approach to the dry forests of central Indochina
