The vulture population, which was on the verge of extinction in Tamil Nadu and the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR), comprising parts of Kerala and Karnataka, has increased by 70, from 320 to 390. Data from a synchronized survey conducted on February 27-28, 2025 was released by the forest department on April 4, reported Madras based The New Indian Express (TNIE) dated April 5. Conducted over 106 vantage points, the survey revealed that Tamil Nadu has 157 vultures, while Kerala and Karnataka have 125 and 106 each, respectively.
Clockwise, from top l: white-rumped, long-billed, Egyptian and red-headed vultures
White-rumped vultures led the count with 110 in Tamil Nadu and 288 sighted in the NBR, while 31 long-billed vultures were seen in Tamil Nadu and 50 in the NBR. The red-headed vultures ranked third with 11 and 47 being sighted in the two areas. Listed as endangered, five juvenile Egyptian vultures were recorded in Nellai wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, reported TNIE.
Over 75 active nests were seen during the survey, of which conservationists were pleased to find the first ever red-headed vulture nest documented in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, noted TNIE.
Scientists told the daily that this revival is the result of the Tamil Nadu government’s crackdown on diclofenac, the painkiller drug responsible for the decimation of 97% of the vulture population in the 1990s.
Also, in 2022 Tamil Nadu chief minister M. K. Stalin set up a state level committee for vulture conservation which used camera traps and satellite tracking to monitor the scavenger birds and their nesting sites. A recent decision by the committee to leave elephant carcasses for the vultures to feed on has helped as well, as they are safer than cattle carcasses.
S. V.