WWF-Pakistan set up an event to celebrate International Vulture Awareness Day 2015 at the Lahore Zoo where students, journalists, activists and volunteers took part in it. The critically endangered white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis) is one of WWF's priority species for conservation.
Lahore Zoo Director Shafqat Ali talked about the importance of the biodiversity of Pakistan and International Vulture Awareness Day and praised the conservation efforts undertaken by the WWF-Pakistan to save the critically endangered white-backed and long-billed vultures.
The event included the documentary screening of Missing Vultures, which drew attention to the Gyps vulture crisis as well as quizzes, and a cleanup activity of the zoo to highlight the important role vultures play in our ecosystem. Participants and students were given prizes and vulture species identification cards. WWF-Pakistan staff distributed vulture conservation friendship bands to children to promote vultures as good, clean and helpful birds in our environment, which is contrary to their perception among the public.
This event was part of activities undertaken by vulture conservationists around the world in the first week of September each year. International Vulture Awareness Day was initiated by the Birds of Prey Programme, South Africa and the Hawk Conservancy Trust, England. The initiative was later expanded into an international event and highlights the conservation of vultures to a wider audience as well as the important work being carried out around the world.
Between 2000 and 2004 Pakistan had seen a rapid decline in the population of the white-backed vulture. This was primarily because of the use of Diclofenac Sodium, a drug administered to livestock. When vultures fed upon the carcass of such livestock, it caused immediate renal failure in the form of visceral gout. The drug has been effectively banned since the year 2006, however, the use of the human formulation in animal practice continues to pose a threat.
Recently other veterinary drugs have also proven to be fatal to vultures such as Aceclofenac, Ketoprufen and fluxinin etc. WWF-Pakistan is carrying out ex-situ work in the form of a conservation centre in Changa Manga and established a Vulture Safe Zone in Nagar Parker, which is home to two critically endangered species of vultures; white-backed and long-billed vulture.
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