Status, Ecology, and Conservation of the Himalayan GriffonGyps himalayensis(Aves, Accipitridae) in the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

The dramatic population crashes of 3 species of Gyps vulture have raised concerns about the status of their lesser-known congeners. Among these is the Himalayan griffon, G. himalayensis, an iconic vulture of the Tibetan plateau. The continued existence of this scavenger has not only ecological but also cultural implications because of their unique role in the centuries-old sky burial tradition that is followed by nearly 5 million Tibetan people. A lack of baseline information of the Himalayan griffon limits our ability to take conservation measures. The presented data, which were collected during 1996 and 2004 to 2007, indicate that this species is still widespread throughout the plateau and has not experienced a major population decline, likely as a result of protection by Tibetan Buddhism and limited disturbances from human activities largely due to the remoteness of the plateau. Both site and road counts showed that open meadow habitats had the highest griffon abundance, followed by alpine shrub and forest habitats. Estimates based on road transect counts showed that 229,339 Himalayan griffons (+/- 40,447) occupy the 2.5 million km2 Tibetan plateau. In contrast, the maximum carrying capacity of the plateau, on the basis of the total biomass of potential food resources, is 507,996 griffons, with meadow habitats accounting for about 76% of the total population. Griffons depend largely on livestock carcasses for food and forage in groups averaging 5.5 (range 1-100) individuals. Domestic yaks provide about 64% of the griffons' diet, while wild ungulates and human corpses provide 1% and 2%, respectively. Compared with its lowland congeners, this, the only high-elevation Gyps species, had both low population density and small group size, a likely response to the harsh environmental conditions. Although griffon abundance appears relatively stable in their fairly pristine environment, precautionary measures, including investigation of threats, monitoring of population dynamics, and establishment of modern conservation consciousness among Tibetan Buddhists, should be carried out to ensure that this abundance continues.

Himalayan Vultures in Khodpe, far-west Nepal: is there any threat?

“…The Government of Nepal has banned the veterinary use of diclofenac in Nepal, but illegal availability of diclofenac cannot be ignored because animal husbandry is one of the important sources of income in the high lands (Acharya et al 2009;Lu et al 2009;Chaudhary et al 2011;DNPWC 2015). Like in our study, Karmacharya (2011), Bhusal (2011 and Harris (2013) also speculated loss of food, loss of nesting sites, poisoning of carcasses, pesticides, forest fire and destruction of cliffs for roads as limiting factors for the survival of Himalayan Vultures.…”

“…Still there is a slower decline rate on its population in the area (Paudel et al 2015). Being a scavenger of wild and domestic animals (Pain et al 2008;Lu et al 2009), Himalayan Vulture migrate to the lowlands of Nepal and India in winter and co-habit with other Gyps vultures. This ultimately increases the probability of them coming in contact with diclofenac.…”

Population and conservation status of the Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) at the Drigung Thel Monastery, Tibet, China

“…The global population has been estimated at approximately 286749 individual birds (Lu et al, 2009) and its conservation status is therefore considered as Lower Risk/Least Concern (IUCN, 2004). Populations of three species of vultures in the Indian subcontinent have collapsed since the early 1990s and are now at high risk of extinction (IUCN, 2004).…”

“…Such a catastrophic decline in vulture population highlights ecological, cultural and public health issues for vulture conservation and raises the need for information on lesser known vulture species (Koeniq, 2006), although it is not known whether diclofenac or perhaps some other NSAIDs can affect the populations of the Himalayan Griffon and other scavengers . Tibetan people rarely treat livestock with veterinary drugs (Lu et al, 2009). For the moment therefore, this drug may be not a danger to the vultures in Tibetan areas.…”

“…All four are now listed as critically endangered species (IUCN, 2004). Despite the lack of any strong evidence that the population of the Himalayan Griffon in Tibet has collapsed in recent years, the species is still at risk and in the absence of baseline information about its population the effect of any conservation measures may be difficult to assess (Lu et al, 2009). Therefore, we summarized any demographic information available on the habitat and conservation status of the population at the Drigung Thel Monastery in Tibet, based on several surveys conducted from June to July in 2003, 2009 and 2012. …”