White backed vultures scientifically known as Gyps africanus were commonly seen in Pakistani skies are now on the edge of extinction. They are known as white backed because of the ash white marking on their back with a long pink bald neck and head along with a powerful beak. They can grow up to 10 meters tall and their wingspan is 180 to 210 cm wide and can weigh up to 7 kilos. These magnificent birds feed on the carcasses of dead animals hence proven as the cheapest way to keep the environment clean.
“Vultures are ecologically important because they consume dead animals and clean the environment.”- World wildlife fund (WWF)
In some cultures like Tibetan Buddhist they feed their dead to these birds because they believe that when the spirit is gone there is no need to preserve the body and the body should go back to the nature it is known as “sky burial”.
In Pakistan these birds used to roam the skies but since 1990 there has been a decline in their number, mostly because of industrialization and the use of Diclofenac Sodium, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, used in livestock that causes kidney failure in vultures. Diclofenac is used by livestock breeders in Pakistan. Vultures eat the meat off the carcasses of the cattle and so take in the drugs, which unleashes the disaster in their systems.
The WWF Pakistan is desperately trying to save the white backed vultures according to the local branch of WWF “Their (vultures) number has dropped straight and at a very fast rate by 99% since 1990’s”. The coordinator of vulture restoration project Warda Javed said that once these vultures were found in a great number in Pakistan.
WWF has made a large screen enclosure in the eastern part of Changa Manga forest where they have protected about twenty of these white backed vultures. They are given a feed that is mainly consisting of donkey and goat meat. They will be staying there until the environment becomes suitable for them again.
The WWF is pressurizing the authorities, vets and pharmaceutical companies to replace Diclofenac with Meloxicam, a drug much safer for the birds. Even if Diclofenac is banned there are still some drugs that can harm the vultures.
According to the Pakistan today, “Diclofenac was banned in neighbouring India in 2006 after it was also blamed for destroying the vulture population there, which went from millions to just a few thousand in little more than a decade, but it remains in use in Pakistan.”
“Up till 2020, we don’t have any release plans until we have a controlled environment outside this centre as well,” Warda Javed. Four babies were born last year in the vulture restoration breeding facility but they will not be released in to the wild for a long time. WWF is trying to get general public to pay attention on this matter so that charity could be raised in order to protect these birds.
In Pakistan superstitious people associate death and negative emotions with vultures but in reality vultures play a great role in keeping our environment clean. They are shy in nature and are very protective about their babies. Folklores have deeply rooted negativity in relation to vultures.
This is not the first case of animals being endangered in Pakistan. Some of the rarest species of animals that were solely found in Pakistan have been endangered by the unawareness and negligence of the local people as well as the authorities. Here are some of the honorable mentions:
1. THE INDUS RIVER DOLPHIN:
Also known as susu. These rare blind species of dolphins are endangered due to manmade water reserves and dams, they also get caught in fishing nets by the fisherman who used to kill them thinking they are of no use.
2. CHAKOR:
A red legged partridge which is also the national bird of Pakistan. People have been a fan of hunting these birds for fun which have resulted in decline in their number making them endangered.
3. MARKHOR:
The spiral horn goat and the national animal of Pakistan is on the edge of extinction because of illegal hunting and hunting sports related to it have reduced its numbers. They are killed because of the beauty of their horns.
4. THE GREEN SEA TURTLES:
These rare sea turtles used to come to the shores of Pakistan to lay eggs but the illegal smuggling and worthless killings have made them an endangered species of sea turtles
5. THE SNOW LEOPARDS:
These magnificent animals were found in the northern areas of Pakistan like Murree. When those areas become more populated and business oriented people started to kill them to protect their livestock and the tourists. Basically protecting their business they endangered these beautiful cats.
Alanis Obomsawin a Canadian film maker once said:
“When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can’t eat money.”
We should take a break from our busy lives to stop and feel the nature which is dying because of us what will we do when there will be nothing left for us to hear and breath and see but tall building and traffic noise and a polluted air and water to consume, when the hunted will become the hunters because we are messing up all the food chains and destroying the ecosystem, where will we go? We still have today to make a change, lets rethink our actions and save the planet for our future generations.
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