The two-day Vulture Population Estimation, 2022, exercise conducted by the Gujarat forest department in collaboration with Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) concluded on December 11. This was the first such count in four years and results are expected in a few days, officers said. The exercise began across the state, covering all 33 districts. “We are compiling the details. Primary results will be available in a few days,” RK Sugoor, director of GEER Foundation told The Indian Express. This is the seventh vulture census in Gujarat. Previous surveys were conducted in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2016 and 2018. Out of the 23 vulture species of the world, nine are in India, of which seven are found in Gujarat. They include white-rumped vulture (WRV), Indian vulture (IV), Egyptian vulture (EV) and read-headed vulture (RHV) which are resident breeders and migratory species Egyptian griffon, Himalayan griffon and cinereous vulture. Bearded vulture (BV) and slender-billed vulture (SBV) are occasional migrant species in Gujarat. The GEER Foundation director said that the 2022 census also covered the migratory species, a first in vulture survey in Gujarat. Gujarat had recorded a 66 per cent decline in population of WRV between 2011 and 2011, with the number of individuals of this species plummeting to 462 from 1,358 within a decade. However, the population of IV saw a growth of 20 per cent during this decade. The IV numbers rose to 344 individuals in 2020 from 286 as per Vultures—The Feathered Scavengers in Gujarat, a book on vultures published by GEER Foundation in 2019. As per the book, majority of vulture population is concentrated in Saurashtra, especially Bhavnagar, Amreli and Junagadh districts while some birds are found in north Gujarat and south Gujarat regions also.
