Conservation non-governmental organisation, Arulagam, recently conducted an awareness campaigns to sensitise people living in villages near vulture habitats in the Sathyamangalam (STR) and the Mudumalai Tiger Reserves (MTR).
S. Bharathidasan, secretary of Arulagam, said the conservation group, which is working to conserve vultures in the Sigur plateau, has been conducting regular awareness campaigns with the assistance of the Forest Department for the last decade.
Members of the conservation group visited villages in MTR and STR between June 28 and July 5, staging plays and also singing songs to sensitise local residents about the factors that have led to the drastic decline in vulture populations across India. Members of the conservation group spoke about how the use of certain Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) in cattle had led to the deaths of a majority of the vultures in India over the last few decades, and urged residents to not use the NSAIDs to treat their cattle.
The members also spoke about how retaliatory poisoning incidents, targeted at carnivores that prey on domestic cattle, was also severely impacting vultures that happen to scavenge on the carcasses.
Mr. Bharathidasan said the fact that the Nilgiris and Sathyamangalam had the largest population of vultures in south India was a matter of pride, and urged residents to help conserve the three different species of vultures that are resident in the Sigur plateau.
The awareness programmes were conducted in Theppakadu, Anaikatty, Siriyur, Bokkapuram, Moyar, Masinagudi, Chemmanatham, Boothanatham, Mavanallah, Vazhaithottam, Chokkanalli, Ebbanad and other surrounding villages as well as within Udhagamandalam town.
