Talk:Vulture
From Academic Kids
Many vultures are endangered and conservationists decided to breed some in captivity for 20-30 years in order to protect and make the species larger; these conservationists are trying to get enough birds into a protected area before they all disappear. Throughout the past decade, the Asian species of vultures, (white-backed vulture, long-billed vulture, and slender-billed vulture), have declined in their population by more than 95%. One reason why the vulture species is dieing out is because of kidney failure; this happens because the livestock that the vulture catches was often treated with diclofenac, (a painkiller like Aspirin or Motrin). Conservationists decided to put a stop to this by putting a ban on the veterinary use of diclofenac. Rick Watson, international programs director for the Peregrine Fund in Idaho, said that it would take a long time before the drug is completely removed from nature. Some conservationists realize that since the population is declining so rapidly, they have to act quickly. These conservationists have decided to collect 25 pairs of vultures from each species and then bring them to 3 different facilities where the birds can reproduce. Once the environment is rid of diclofenac, the conservationists will let the young vultures live in the wild. However, the cost of this project has reached about $1 million for it to be run in the US each year! Also, other groups around the world take care of sick or injured birds. The one species of vulture that is the closest to extinct is the slender-billed vultures. One conservationist stated that he wasn’t sure if this type of vulture was even breeding anymore. The loss of these vultures, besides the unfortunate fact that they would disappear forever, can create a health hazard because of the dead animal carcasses that are left uneaten. These have been linked to spreading diseases such as anthrax. Also, other animals that have been eating the carcasses usually eaten by vultures, have increased in population. Some of these animals include wild dogs that can spread rabies and they can physically attack people. Hopefully these conservationists will be able to use their bright ideas to keep the vultures from becoming extinct.
i got this information from an article that i got from the following link: [[1] (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/05/0511_040511_vultures.html)] this is the url: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/05/0511_040511_vultures.html
This is the White-Backed Vulture
