Even in the 20th century, there were large colonies of White-backed Vulture, Gyps bengalensis (Gmelin) in and around Kolkata City but suddenly by the end of the century they disappeared. It is now a well known fact that vulture population in India is declining very rapidly from 1990s and probably moved up to 99.9% and thus, almost moving through the avenue of extinction. The status of the bird is declared as CRITICAL (CR) by the IUCN 2007. From the very beginning of the 21st century several protective measures like banning of the drug Diclofenac, captive breeding etc. have been introduced.
In January 2008, a few white-backed vultures were observed to roost on the tall trees of the garden in the Victoria Memorial campus, at the heart of the city of Kolkata, the state capital of West Bengal. As a follow up programme, it was observed that only three nests were set up by the breeding pairs on Parkia aculeata and P. biglandulosa trees of the family Leguminoceae as well as Pterygota alata tree of the family Sterculiaceae. On 17th April 2008 after a thorough survey, it was observed that the colony consists of 39 individuals and 3 nestlings. No doubt, these poor birds need proper protection to live. As they are carcass feeder and keep our vicinity clean thus, a slogan must be raised ‘let them live for our livelihood’.

Rina Chakraborty
Zoological Survey of India
27, Jawharlal Nehru Road
Kolkata- 700016.