The Last Flight

Neglecting the significant role of raptors in the ecosystem doesn’t bode well for their conservation, writes Sanctuary’s Assistant Editor Anirudh Nair.

In a country where conservation concerns are more reactive than proactive, those that fly high, slip under the radar.

Most raptors are large-ranging avian predators that are on the top of their food chain species and maintain the population structure of their prey. Their position at the top of the food chain means that their numbers are fewer and makes them sensitive to the introduction of toxins and harmful chemicals into the environment. Considering the plethora of ecological roles played by raptors, it is imperative to study these vulnerable birds of prey.

It was studies done in the early 1970s that highlighted the harmful effects of dichloro-diphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) on Bald Eagles and it was studies in the early 2000s that revealed precisely why vulture populations in India were declining — diclofenac. Raptors perform a sentinel role in the ecosystem by issuing warning signals about food chain toxification, habitat degradation, and waste generation. Research on raptors, rather avians, is still at a nascent stage in India on account of lack of awareness coupled with the disproportionate allocation of funds for large-mammal conservation — a trend that the Raptor Research Conservation Foundation, Mumbai, has been trying to reverse.

For scientific researchers, conservation status of the raptors they wish to study and other related factors come into play. Considered to be extinct for nearly 113 years, the rediscovery of the Forest Owlet in 1997, for instance, prompted researchers to study and subsequently understand many ecological and behavioural aspects vital to the survival of this critically endangered species.