- Gyps indicus
Conservation Status
Also known as the Indian Griffon Vulture, this species is becoming extremely rare. The rapid decline is thought to be due to the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac, which is used in southern Asia as a livestock treatment. It is extremely toxic to vultures when they feed on the carcasses of treated cattle. The drug causes fatal kidney failure. Populations of the white-rumped vulture and slender-billed vulture have also declined by more than 90 percent in the years from 1992 and 2000. On the basis of their catastrophic declines, the IUCN-World Conservation Union has listed these species as critically endangered: the highest level of threat.
The February 2007 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine has an article on the problem and what conservationists are doing about it: [1]
Identification
Length: 80-100 cm (31.5-39 in); weight: 5.5-6.3 kg (12-13.8 lbs); wingspan 205-229 cm (6.75-7.5 ft).
Gyps indicus indicus: head and long bare neck are grey-brown and sparsely covered with white down, with a buff ruff at the base. Eyes brown, ceres dull grey-green, legs dark grey. Plumage: mostly brownish-black, with light brown under-wing coverts (see flight shot); crop patch is dark brown with white down around it. Gyps indicus tenuirostris: similar, but the head and neck are completely naked, and it is somewhat smaller.
Distribution
Southern Asia. A species very much in decline through a recent epidemic. Formerly widespread throughout India and from the Himalyas east to Burma and northern Indochina and south to the north of the Malay Peninsula but range and numbers now seriously reduced. Resident with some dispersal of young birds.
Taxonomy
SUBSPECIES Two races are recognised: Gyps indicus indicus found in northern India and further east, with Gyps indicus tenuirostris in the plains of the Indus and Ganges Rivers.
Habitat
The two races differ slightly in habitat, perhaps an adaptation to the available terrain in their ranges. G. i. indicus prefers mountainous country with crags and roosts in groups on crags, and G. i. tenuirostris inhabits plains without crags and roosts in trees or on buildings.
Behaviour
G. i. indicus nests colonially on cliff ledges and G. i. tenuirostris nests in trees in loose colonies, one nest per tree. Spends much of the day soaring on thermals, looking for food. The diet consists of carrion, usually putrid, but sometimes fresh. In some parts of their range, it is customary for human corpses to be placed in high places, for the Long-billed Vulture to feed on - this practise is deeply rooted in religious and cultural traditions.
