Editing Vulture (section)

== Conservation status ==
{{See also|Indian vulture crisis|African vulture crisis}}

Vultures in south Asia, mainly in India and [[Nepal]], have declined dramatically since the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Prakash, V. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Pain, D.J. |author3=Cunningham, A.A. |author4=Donald, P.F. |author5=Prakash, N. |author6=Verma, A. |author7=Gargi, R. |author8=Sivakumar, S. |author9=Rahmani, A.R. |title=Catastrophic collapse of Indian white-backed ''Gyps bengalensis'' and long-billed ''Gyps indicus'' vulture populations |journal=[[Biological Conservation (journal)|Biological Conservation]] |year=2003 |volume=109 |issue=3 |pages=381–390 |doi=10.1016/S0006-3207(02)00164-7 |bibcode=2003BCons.109..381P |url=https://save-vultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2003-Prakash-et-al-Catastrophic-declines-Biol-Con.pdf |access-date=2024-07-28 |archive-date=2022-03-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220312191335/https://save-vultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2003-Prakash-et-al-Catastrophic-declines-Biol-Con.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> It has been found that this decline was caused by residues of the drug [[diclofenac]] in livestock carcasses.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Oaks |first1=J. L. |first2=Martin |last2=Gilbert |first3=M. Z. | last3=Virani |first4=R. T. |last4=Watson |first5=C. U. |last5=Meteyer |first6=B. A. |last6=Rideout |first7=H. L. |last7=Shivaprasad |first8=S. |last8=Ahmed |first9=M. J. I. |last9=Chaudhry |first10=M. |last10=Arshad |first11=S. |last11=Mahmood |first12=A. |last12=Ali |first13=A. A. |last13=Khan |name-list-style=amp |title=Diclofenac residues as the cause of vulture population decline in Pakistan |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |issue=6975 |pages=630–633 |date=2004 |doi=10.1038/nature02317 |pmid=14745453 |volume=427 |bibcode=2004Natur.427..630O|s2cid=16146840 }}</ref> The government of India has taken very late cognizance of this fact and has banned the drug for animals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Prakash |first1=V. |first2= M. C. |last2=Bishwakarma |first3=A. |last3=Chaudhary |first4=R. |last4=Cuthbert |first5=R. |last5=Dave |first6=M. |last6=Kulkarni |first7=S. |last7=Kumar |first8=K. |last8=Paudel |first9=S. |last9=Ranade |first10=R. |last10=Shringarpure |first11=R. E. |last11=Green |name-list-style=amp |date=2012 |title=The Population Decline of ''Gyps'' Vultures in India and Nepal Has Slowed since Veterinary Use of Diclofenac was Banned |journal=[[PLOS One]] |volume=7 |issue=11 |pages= e49118 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0049118 |pmid=23145090 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...749118P |pmc=3492300|doi-access=free }}</ref> It may take decades for vultures to come back to their earlier population level, if ever. Without them to pick corpses clean, rabid dogs have multiplied, feeding on the [[carrion]], and age-old practices like the [[sky burial]]s of the [[Parsee]]s are coming to an end, permanently reducing the supply of corpses.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=van Dooren |first1=T. |title=Vultures and their People in India: Equity and Entanglement in a Time of Extinctions |journal=Australian Humanities Review |date=2011 |issue=50 |url=http://www.australianhumanitiesreview.org/archive/Issue-May-2011/vandooren.html |access-date=2016-09-24 |archive-date=2016-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011145001/http://www.australianhumanitiesreview.org/archive/Issue-May-2011/vandooren.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The same problem is also seen in [[Nepal]] where the government has taken some late steps to conserve the remaining vultures.

The vulture population is threatened across Africa and Eurasia. There are many human activities that threaten vultures such as poisoning and collisions with wind turbines.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Santangeli, A. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Girardello, M. |author3=Buechley, E. |author4=Botha, A. |author5=Minin, E. D. |author6=Moilanen, A. |year=2019 |title=Priority areas for conservation of Old World vultures |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=1056–1065 |doi=10.1111/cobi.13282 |pmid=30645009 |pmc=6849836 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2019ConBi..33.1056S }}</ref> In central Africa there have been efforts to conserve the remaining vultures and bring their population numbers back up. The decline is largely due to the trade in vulture meat, "it is estimated that more than {{Cvt|1|e9kg|e9lb|abbr=unit|disp=sqbr}} of wild animal meat is traded" and vultures take up a large percentage of this bushmeat due to the demand in the fetish market.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Buij |first1=R. |last2=Nikolaus |first2=G. |last3=Ogada |first3=D. |last4=Whytock |first4=R. |last5=Ingram |first5=D.J. |name-list-style=amp |date=2015 |title=Trade of threatened vultures and other raptors for fetish and bushmeat in West and Central Africa |journal=Oryx |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=606–616 |doi=10.1017/S0030605315000514 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The substantial drop in vulture populations in the continent of Africa is also said to be the result of both intentional and unintentional poisoning, with one study finding it to be the cause of 61% of the vulture deaths recorded.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ogada |first1=D. |last2=Shaw |first2=P. |last3=Beyers |first3=R. L. |last4=Buij |first4=R. |last5=Murn |first5=C. |last6=Thiollay |first6=J. M. |last7=Beale |first7=C. M. |last8=Holdo |first8=R. M. |last9=Pomeroy |first9=D. |name-list-style=amp |date=2016 |title=Another Continental Vulture Crisis: Africa's Vultures Collapsing toward Extinction |journal=Conservation Letters |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=89–97 |doi=10.1111/conl.12182 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2016ConL....9...89O |hdl=10023/8817 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

A recent study in 2016, reported that "of the 22 vulture species, nine are critically endangered, three are endangered, four are near threatened, and six are least concern".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Buechley|first1=E. R. |name-list-style=amp |last2=Şekercioğlu|first2=Ç. H.|date=2016 |title=The avian scavenger crisis: Looming extinctions, trophic cascades, and loss of critical ecosystem functions |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=198 |pages=220–228 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.001 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2016BCons.198..220B }}</ref>

The conservation status of vultures is of particular concern to humans. For example, the decline of vulture populations can lead to increased disease transmission and resource damage, through increased populations of disease [[Vector (epidemiology)|vector]] and [[Pest (organism)|pest]] animal populations that scavenge carcasses opportunistically. Vultures control these pests and disease vectors indirectly through competition for carcasses.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=O'Bryan |first1=C. J. |name-list-style=amp |last2=Holden |first2=M. H. |last3=Watson |first3=J. E. M. |title=The mesoscavenger release hypothesis and implications for ecosystem and human well-being |journal=Ecology Letters |issue=9 |pages=1340–1348 |doi=10.1111/ele.13288 |pmid=31131976 |year=2019|volume=22 |bibcode=2019EcolL..22.1340O |s2cid=167209009 }}</ref>

On 20 June 2019, the corpses of 468 [[white-backed vulture]]s, 17 [[white-headed vulture]]s, 28 [[hooded vulture]]s, 14 [[lappet-faced vulture]]s and 10 [[cape vulture]]s, altogether 537 vultures, besides 2 [[tawny eagle]]s, were found in northern Botswana. It is suspected that they died after eating the corpses of three [[African bush elephant|elephant]]s that were poisoned by poachers, possibly to avoid detection by the birds, which help rangers to track poaching activity by circling above dead animals.<ref name="NDTV AFP 06-2019">{{cite news |publisher=[[NDTV]] |work=[[Agence France-Press]] |title=Over 500 Rare Vultures Die After Eating Poisoned Elephants In Botswana |url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/over-500-rare-vultures-die-after-eating-poisoned-elephants-in-botswana-2056740 |date=2019-06-21 |access-date=2019-06-28}}</ref><ref name="CNN 06-2019">{{cite news |last=Hurworth |first=Ella |title=More than 500 endangered vultures die after eating poisoned elephant carcasses |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/21/africa/botswana-vultures-endangered-elephants-intl-hnk/index.html |date=2019 |access-date=2019-06-28}}</ref><ref name="Smithsonian 06-2019">{{cite news |last=Solly |first=M. |title=Poachers' Poison Kills 530 Endangered Vultures in Botswana |publisher=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/poachers-poison-kills-530-endangered-vultures-botswana-180972477/ |date=2019 |access-date=2019-06-28}}</ref>