Once familiar in the villages, temple towns, pastures and rocky cliffs of South India, the Egyptian vulture (Neophron perconopterus) has almost disappeared from most of its range. In less than a century, this species has become locally extinct in the Nilgiris and no longer breeds in Tamil Nadu. Conservationists now warn that the remaining resident populations in southern India are facing increasing pressure, highlighting the urgent need for coordinated conservation efforts, including the establishment of an Egyptian Vulture Conservation Breeding Program in the state.
The Egyptian vulture is one of the smallest vultures in the world and is listed as globally endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is distributed in Southern Europe, North and Central Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. India is home to the resident subspecies Neophron perconopterus zinginianusWhile migratory birds from Africa and the Middle East also visit the country during winter.
According to vulture experts, historically, the species played an important ecological role by removing animal carcasses from the landscape and helping maintain healthy ecosystems, while also sharing a unique cultural association with many communities and temple traditions in peninsular India.
Records show that this species was once remarkably abundant in the Nilgiris and surrounding landscapes. British ornithologist William Ruxton Davison says Notes on some birds collected in the Nilgiris and parts of Wayanad and southern Mysore (1883) that, “This species (Egyptian vulture) is very abundant on the Nilgiris (sic), but especially within the Ootacamund station and around the Badaga villages in its vicinity.” Davison described the birds as remarkably fearless, allowing people to get close to them while feeding.
Further historical records confirm its former abundance. Primrose (1904) documented Egyptian vultures from the Nilgiris and Wayanad. A rare photograph taken by Edgar Thurston in 1906, published Ethnographic Notes in Southern IndiaThe Vedagiriswarar temple at Thirukazhukundram depicts Egyptian vultures being fed by temple priests, reflecting the bird’s long-standing cultural association with local communities.
In 2008, KVRK Thirunaranan, founder of The Nature Trust, Chennai, photographed an adult Egyptian Vulture with a chick at Devarabetta, Thali, Tamil Nadu, confirming that this species continued to breed in South India until relatively recently.
An Egyptian vulture seen in Hesarghatta grassland, Bengaluru, on February 28, 2016. Photo courtesy: K. Murali Kumar
Kota tribes and vultures
author of Birds of the Nilgiris: A Historical Account (1839-2025), PJ Vasanthan, said the Kota community, famous for its traditional leather working methods, inadvertently created ideal feeding opportunities for vultures through the availability of livestock carcasses, allowing them to thrive in areas like the Nilgiris until recently.
“Till a few decades ago, there were records of these birds in villages around Kotagiri and KT in Kota,” Mr Vasanthan said. He said historical records also mention long-billed vultures in Udhagamandalam.
Due to population decline
Despite once being one of the most widespread vultures throughout Tamil Nadu, the Egyptian vulture has become the first vulture species to disappear locally from the Nilgiris. Several factors have contributed to its decline, including the use of veterinary non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as diclofenac, electrocution associated with the expansion of electrical infrastructure, accidental poisoning, disturbance of nesting cliffs, and gradual changes in traditional livestock-rearing practices, which have reduced the availability of natural food resources.
Mr Vasanthan said socio-economic changes among pastoral communities in the Nilgiris also contributed to the decline, as many households gradually shifted away from traditional cattle rearing towards sustainable agriculture, reducing the number of livestock carcasses available for the birds to scavenge.
There are no known active breeding sites in Tamil Nadu.
According to Arockinathan Samson, center manager of the Bombay Natural History Society’s Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre, Bhopal, there are currently no active breeding sites of the Egyptian vulture in Tamil Nadu.
“We estimate that there are less than 150 resident Egyptian vultures left in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,” he said. “Many of the Egyptian vultures seen in South India during winter are migratory birds coming from Africa and the Middle East, but the resident breeding population is now very small and requires immediate conservation attention,” he said.
S., secretary of Arulagam, a conservation NGO. Bharathidasan said there are unconfirmed reports of a single pair nesting in Tamil Nadu that is still in existence, but he said that for all intents and purposes, the Egyptian vulture is “functionally extinct” in the state, adding that a combination of factors including the use of rodenticides and other toxins may have contributed to the extinction of this species. “Of all the vulture species in India, the Egyptian vulture is probably the most endangered and needs immediate protection,” Mr Bharathidasan said.
in karnataka
Karnataka currently supports the most important remaining resident breeding population of Egyptian vultures in South India. Records of the late 19th centuryth The species has been described as widespread throughout the state, from the Sakleshpur and Kanara plains to Mysuru, Chitradurga, Bengaluru, Kolar and the Biligirirangan Hills.
Even in recent decades, breeding and roosting populations have persisted in parts of the rocky hill ranges of Mysuru, Bandipur, Ballari, Raichur and, especially, Ramanagara. Surveys conducted during 2013–2014 recorded an average of about 12.3 Egyptian vultures, including adults, sub-adults and juveniles, around Ramdevarabetta in Ramanagara, highlighting its importance as one of the last remaining strongholds of the species in Peninsular India.
Tamil Nadu, a winter residence
In Tamil Nadu, although the resident breeding population has disappeared, winter migratory Egyptian vultures continue to be recorded from Chennai, Tirunelveli and Koothankulam bird sanctuaries, where seasonal counts of 10-17 individuals have been recorded, Mr Samson said. “These observations demonstrate that Tamil Nadu continues to provide suitable winter habitat for the species, even though confirmed breeding populations are no longer known from the state,” Mr Samson said.
Recent comments from neighboring Andhra Pradesh further reinforce these concerns. Wildlife experts have warned that the species is approaching local extinction in the Rayalaseema landscape. The researchers reported that the species has declined rapidly due to habitat degradation, lightning strikes on power lines, declining food resources, accidental poisoning, and increasing human disturbance around nesting rocks. Experts have called for scientific population surveys, protection of nesting habitats, installation of bird diverters on dangerous power lines, establishment of vulture-safe feeding areas and greater community awareness to protect the remaining birds.
Proposal for dedicated conservation breeding facility
Recognizing the urgent need for conservation intervention, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) submitted a proposal and approached the Government of Tamil Nadu to establish an Egyptian Vulture Conservation Breeding Program during the Tamil Nadu Raptor Research Foundation (TNRRF) Expert Committee meeting.
The resolution highlighted the rapid decline of the species across South India and recommended the establishment of a dedicated conservation breeding facility in Tamil Nadu. Depending on habitat suitability, historical distribution and availability of suitable reef ecosystem, possible locations include Nilgiris, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Coimbatore and other suitable landscapes.
The proposal builds on BNHS’s successful conservation breeding programs for Gyps vultures in Haryana, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Assam, where internationally recognized expertise in artificial incubation, chick rearing, veterinary care, behavioral management and post-release monitoring has been developed.
Conservationists believe that adopting this proven model for the Egyptian vulture, along with habitat protection, safe food availability, reduced risks of electric shock and poisoning, and continued collaboration between forest departments, scientists, conservation organizations and local communities in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, can provide a strong foundation for the long-term recovery of this endangered scavenger.
