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Feral dogs a major threat to vultures in the Thar desert, study finds
വാർത്തയിൽ എന്തുകൊണ്ട്?
Vultures vanished after one painkiller; now feral dogs threaten Thar's survivors: the diclofenac conservation case for GS3
Study names feral dogs as a threat to Thar vultures.
Why it matters: asked in UPSC 2012; factual, Prelims-type
What you need to know
2 മിനിറ്റ്
Scientists observed that vultures spend only about half as long on carcasses at an open dump site as they do at dog-free enclosures, because feral dogs crowd them out.
Vulture populations in India had earlier collapsed after the veterinary use of the painkiller diclofenac.
The study adds feral dogs to the list of threats to the scavenging birds.
ഉറവിടങ്ങൾ: Topper IAS editorial (PIB / The Hindu / Indian Express)
പ്രധാന വസ്തുതകൾ
Remember these
- Study in the Thar desert found vultures spend about half as long on carcasses at an open dump as at dog-free enclosures.
- Feral dogs crowd vultures out of carcasses, adding a new threat to scavenging birds.
- India's Gyps vulture populations collapsed in the 1990s after veterinary use of diclofenac.
- Diclofenac residues in treated cattle carcasses cause kidney failure in vultures that feed on them.
- Vultures are natural scavengers that clear carcasses and help limit disease spread.
പ്രിലിംസ് · മെയിൻസ്
How the exam will ask it
പ്രിലിംസ്
- Statement: Veterinary use of diclofenac was the main cause of the collapse of Gyps vulture populations in India.
- Statement: Vultures are scavenging birds that feed on carcasses and play a role in ecosystem sanitation.
- Statement: Besides toxic drugs, competition from feral dogs at carcass sites is identified as a threat to vultures in the Thar desert.
മെയിൻസ്
GS3 (Environment): species conservation. Diclofenac nearly wiped out India's vultures, and a ban on its veterinary use addressed one threat; the Thar study shows feral dogs at dump sites now crowd vultures off carcasses. The way forward is better carcass and waste management, feral dog population control, safe-drug protocols and protected vulture feeding sites.
PYQ connection
A question UPSC has already asked on this
Vultures which used to be very common in Indian countryside some years ago are rarely seen nowadays. This is attributed to
- the destruction of their nesting sites by new invasive species
- a drug used by cattle owners for treating their diseased cattle
- scarcity of food available to them
- a widespread, persistent and fatal disease among them
ഉത്തരം കാണിക്കൂ
ഉത്തരം: B
Why this matters: today's issue is directly connected to a concept UPSC has already tested. Read the story with this question in mind.
Practise this PYQ →Quick recall
Answer before you reveal
The collapse of Gyps vulture populations in India in the 1990s was traced to veterinary use of which drug?
- Paracetamol
- Diclofenac
- Ivermectin
- Oxytetracycline
ഉത്തരം കാണിക്കൂ
ഉത്തരം: B — Correct: Diclofenac — Diclofenac residues in treated cattle carcasses caused kidney failure in vultures that fed on them. • Paracetamol — wrong: Paracetamol is a common human analgesic and was not the cause of vulture deaths. • Ivermectin — wrong: Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic and is not the drug behind the vulture collapse. • Oxytetracycline — wrong: Oxytetracycline is an antibiotic and was not implicated in the vulture decline.
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