“Vulture restaurant” opened in Pakistan in an effort to save Asian vultures

A vulture restaurant has opened in Sind, Pakistan, in an effort to conserve the few remaining vultures. Credit DDS.

Save the Vulture, Save the Ecosystem

June 2009. A "vulture restaurant" has been opened in Pakistan in an effort to provide safe food for highly endangered vultures. Dhartee Development Society, a non-government organization, working in collaboration with the UNDP Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme has taken the initiative to save the threatened vulture species in Sindh, Pakistan.

Trained veterinary staff have been hired to monitor nests and breeding.

The DDS team is proud to have taken this step as the birds, which few years back were common in many areas, have almost been wiped out due to use the drug Diclofenac on livestock. However, the DDS plan to educate their community, motivating them not to use banned drugs on their livestock and not to disturb the birds at their nests.

Scattered nests
According to a fresh survey conducted by DDS, there are scattered vulture nests in the tall trees in the desert outside of Nangar Parkar. Two species, white backed vultures and long billed vultures, are found in the area and are being targeted by the project. The community is now cooperating with the team members. These birds nest in tall trees, on sandy mountains and in bushes. There are now several chicks being monitored.

DDS have also received some reports of vultures near Deeplo, also in the Thar Desert. So DDS are formulating a plan to expand the project to conserve all the birds in the neighbourhood.

Purchasing meat safe for vultures
DDS are very careful to purchase meat that is safe to feed the birds. A veterinary doctor at the post gets the history of each animal before buying, to ascertain whether it has been vaccinated or not. They prefer to buy animals from the areas where farmers usually avoid vaccinating their cattle and goats and utilize traditional methods of treatment.

Funding needed
It is a large task that DDS has undertaken taken and the organization needs more resources to expand its activities to save the vulture and other wildlife species in the neighbourhood. This is an appeal to all wildlife conservationists to extend their helping hand to the DDS team so that they can achieve goal.

Click here to go to their website, or to donate.

Yours Sincerely
Mansoor Dahri
Executive Director
Dhartee Development Society