Free-roaming dogs are a serious threat to vultures at a carcass dump in Rajasthan's Thar desert, according to a study published in the journal Biological Conservation and reported by The Hindu.
The site, on the edge of Jorbeer Conservation Reserve near Bikaner, draws large numbers of migratory Himalayan and Eurasian griffon vultures each winter. Researchers found the birds spent roughly half as long feeding on carcasses at the open dump as at enclosures that dogs could not enter, and that dogs pushed vulture feeding mostly into the afternoon.
India's vulture numbers fell by more than 90% in the 1990s, largely because of the livestock drug diclofenac, which poisoned birds feeding on dead cattle. The authors warn that dogs competing at feeding sites could hold back recovery efforts.
Source: The Hindu
