Can Captive Breeding Rescue Vultures from Extinction?

John Roach
for National Geographic News

May 11, 2004

Twenty to 30 years of captivity is the only option left to save three
species of south Asian vultures from extinction, according to
conservationists who are racing against time to get enough birds into
safekeeping.

Over the past decade populations of the Asian white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus), and slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris) have declined by more than 95 percent in Pakistan, India, and Nepal.

Researchers recently determined that the raptors, which were the Indian subcontinent's carcass-disposal system, are dying of kidney failure shortly after scavenging livestock treated with diclofenac, a painkiller akin to aspirin or ibuprofen.

At word of the link between the painkiller and the vulture deaths, conservationists and government officials from India, Pakistan, and Nepal convened in India to discuss a recovery effort.

Conservationists called for an immediate ban on the veterinary use of diclofenac and search for a safe alternative to the drug.

"But the fact is, we don't expect this drug to be removed from the environment right away. It will take time to ban it, and there are probably stocks of it left around," said Rick Watson, international programs director for the Peregrine Fund in Boise, Idaho.

As a result, bird-conservation groups around the world, in cooperation with government officials, are racing to establish captive-breeding facilities on the subcontinent. It's a final bid to rescue the vultures from the brink of extinction.

"Something really urgent has got to be done," said Debbie Pain, head of international research for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Berfordshire, United Kingdom. "Even if it were possible to remove diclofenac in the next six months, we need to bring birds into captivity now, as the population is declining so rapidly in the wild."

Breed and Release

The concept envisioned by the conservationists is to place 25 breeding pairs of each of the three vulture species in at least three different facilities and encourage the birds to breed and raise young.

Once the environment is cleaned of diclofenac, the young vultures will be released back into the wild. There, they will establish a viable and sustainable population, conservationists hope.

The Peregrine Fund successfully used this technique to rescue the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) from extinction in the 1970s. Also, the fund is currently using it to help save the Aplomodo falcon (Falco femoralis) and the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus).

"In concept it is very simple. In practice it takes a lot of time," Watson said. "We are talking a minimum of 20 years, more like 30 years, of effort. And it's not cheap."

Estimated costs for the project run as high as one million U.S. dollars each year. Watson said that while such funding is not yet secured, conservationists have gotten the governments of India, Pakistan, and Nepal to commit to species restoration.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is working in India with the Bombay Natural History Society and the Haryana state government to expand a vulture care center in the town of Pinjore. The center is designed to look after sick and injured birds and to include a captive-breeding program.

Additional support for the expansion effort comes from the United Kingdom-based Institute of Zoology and the U.K. National Bird of Prey Trust.

Pain said three aviaries large enough to hold 20 birds of each of the three species are currently being built at the facility. Plans call for further expansions.

The United Arab Emirates' Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency has offered to host 25 breeding pairs of each species for Pakistan and Nepal for a few years, until those countries develop local facilities and expertise for captive breeding.

Recovery Possible?

According to Watson, the chances of a successful recovery for the Asian white-backed vulture and the long-billed vulture are good, assuming that captive breeding populations can be quickly established. He is more concerned about the slender-billed vulture.

"There are so few individuals left of this species that to my knowledge, no one knows if they are even breeding at this point. So chances of collecting enough birds for a successful captive-breeding effort are much reduced," he said.

According to Pain, if the international bird-conservation community works together and successfully implements a captive-breeding program, the vultures can be saved. "I don't think it will be easy, but it's certainly possible," she said.

Meanwhile, the impact of the vulture decline is already being felt throughout the subcontinent. Rotting carcasses left uneaten by vultures pose a health hazard. Such carcasses are linked to the spread of diseases such as anthrax, according to the conservationists.

Other animals, such as rats, cats, and dogs, are filling the niche once filled by vultures. Wild dog populations in particular have increased substantially, leading to an increase in the spread of rabies and physical attacks on people.

Given the proven ability to bring vultures back from brink of extinction, Watson said action must be taken: "In this day and age of rapid species extinction, it is exceedingly foolish to let a species go extinct when there's something you can do about it."