Gandhinagar (Gujarat): The number of avian scavengers has been steadily decreasing in the state. The census conducted by the Gujarat forest department suggested that the number of vultures has reduced to 300 in 2022 as compared to 400 in 2018 despite the State government spending crores of rupees to protect vultures.
Even after spending almost Rs 10 crore, the State government failed to establish a breeding centre at the state level to increase the number of vultures. However, Forest Minister Mulu Bera is yet to make an official statement about the decrease in the number of vultures in the state.
The wildlife census conducted in 2018 suggested a 61% decline in the number of vultures from 2005 to 2018. In 2005, a total of 2,647 vultures were recorded from 33 districts while the number decreased to 1,431 in 2007, 1,065 in 2010, 1,043 in 2012, 999 in 2016, and 820 in 2018. A total reduction of 300 vultures was recorded in 2022.
Forest Minister Mukesh Patel said, "Vultures are natural scavengers and help in keeping the environment clean. The main reason for a decline in the number of vultures is industrialisation and human interference in their habitat. The population of vultures can be increased by increasing forest area and by creating systematic dumping sites for vultures to feed on."
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A report prepared by the Gir Foundation suggests that the decline in the population of white-backed Vulture and Girnari Vultures indicates that there is a high probability of their extinction in the next 25 years. According to a study conducted between 1992 and 2007, the population of white-backed Vultures in India declined by an average of 99 per cent and that of other vulture species by 95 per cent. Given this, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has put the species of vultures on the list of endangered species.
Newly appointed Forest Minister of the state Mulu Bera and State Forest Minister Mukesh Patel held a meeting with top officials of the Forest Department at Aranya Bhavan. In which the decline in the population of vultures was discussed. Along with this, the vulture census 2022 report was presented in all the districts of the state on December 11 and 12.
