Asian Vulture Crisis

Himalayan Raptor Rescue, where I am employed this year, is the first and only raptor rehabilitation facility in Nepal. Although cows and monkeys are considered sacred in the Hindu religion, birds are mainly overlooked.

With Bob, a juvenile Egyptian vulture

Kevin, Egyptian vulture

This is a small facility compared to other facilities I’ve worked at or visited. Based at Maya Devi in Pokhara, they receive around 5 to 10 birds a year. There are 5 resident birds here at the moment: two Egyptian vultures, Bob and Kevin, and three black kites, Brad, Sapana and Goggles. Both species are native to Nepal.

Bob, Egyptian vulture

Kevin, Egyptian vulture

Kevin and Bob, the two Egyptian vultures are great ambassadors for vultures as a group. Populations of many vulture species in Asia have been drastically declining over the past 20 years. The cause of the decline was just recently discovered in 2004. It’s due to an anti-inflammatory drug called diclofenac given to cattle. This drug is extremely toxic to vultures, so that if a vulture feeds on a cow carcass that had been injected with diclofenac during the last days of its life, it will inevitably experience liver and kidney failure and die. Of course, it’s never just one vulture feeding on a carcass, but it could be 150 vultures. The rate of decline has been astronomical. The Gyps vultures were once considered the most numerous raptors in the world, and today three species of Gyps vultures - white-backed vultures, long-billed vultures and slender-billed vultures – have lost 99% percent of their population and continue to lose 40% each year. Red-headed vultures and Egyptian vultures are also affected.

Critically endangered white-backed vulture

There is a vulture-safe alternative to diclofenac, meloxicam. Since diclofenac was banned for veterinary use in 2006 in Nepal, India and Pakistan, it's use has declined somewhat. There is still a black market for diclofenac, and it is still being used. Fortunately, through education and diclofenac-meloxicam exchange programs there are more and more areas that can be declared diclofenac-free and vulture-safe. Within some of these areas, conservation groups are establishing vulture restaurants, where sick or old livestock is purchased, put to pasture and allowed to die a natural death. The carcass is then placed in a vulture feeding area as a safe food source for the vultures. 

Scott at a vulture restaurant with Himalayan griffon
vultures and some white-backed vultures

Vultures the world over have bad reputations. They're scavengers, they're viewed as dirty, smelly, and ugly, but vultures have an extremely important role in the ecosystem. They are the cleaners, the purifiers. With the drastic decline in Asian vulture species, there has been an increase in the feral dog populations, and an increase rabies cases along with it. Hopefully, with removing diclofenac from the vultures' food sources, and captive breeding programs, the vultures of Asia will be able to make a comeback. 

Himalayan Raptor Rescue raises awareness and raises funds for vulture conservation in Nepal. Last year, they were the single largest contributor, donating $10,000 to vulture conservation and helped to set up a vulture restaurant outside of Pokhara. For more information, visit www.vulturerescue.org. 

Tango, black kite.
Released in the spring and still hangs around

Tango, black kite, in flight

Cultural Differences

This is the time of year that the parahawking birds need to get fit again after sitting around in their aviaries all monsoon. We took Kevin and Bob, the two Egyptian vultures, to a grassy area between the lake and some rice paddies to do some exercising flights with them.

When we arrived, we were not alone. There were about 100 crows screaming and circling in the air, with a few black kites circling among them. We noticed a single crow in the water not too far from the shore, paddling frantically with his wings trying to make it to dry land. As we were standing there watching the crow to make sure he made it, I glanced to my left and saw a little boy... with a grin... and a rock. I'm not sure how much English he knew, but I just shook my head at him with a disgusted look on my face, and said "No, don't throw rocks at animals."

After a moment his grin faded, then a little while later he dropped the rock on the ground, soon after that he went away. We were able to exercise Kevin and Bob once the crows had settled down again, but the image of that grinning boy remains with me.

Nepalis generally have a very different view of animals than we do in the west. They are either useful - for milk or eggs or meat - or useless. An animal's place in the ecosystem doesn't matter to most Nepalis. We tend to believe that animals have a right to live free from persecution and pain - that concept is also foreign to most Nepalis.

In the US, if a young boy threw rocks at a crow, he would receive feedback from others around him that his action was morally wrong. This is a regular occurrence in Nepal, and that feedback isn't present.

Working at an animal rescue facility in Nepal is so completely different than anything in the US. There are no laws to protect animals, and the basic idea of helping an animal in need is absent. It will take some getting used to, and hopefully I will be able to see some change here as well.

Fisherman at sunset on Phewa Tal

Early morning along Phewa Tal

On a lighter note, it's unbelievably beautiful here. Here are some images I see on a daily basis here.

Maya Devi

Our house. My hut is the smaller one on the right on the top floor.
Maya Devi is just next door on the left. 

View of the lake and front garden from the roof outside my hut.

View from our roof-top patio.
The main house and restaurant of Maya Devi is just visible to the right. 

Welcome to Maya Devi - named after Buddha's mother.

My first morning in Pokhara, I wake earlier in the morning then a bedtime of 3 am requires, but I am excited to see my home for the next 5 months in the daylight. I go to the window of my hut, pull aside the curtain, and catch my breath.

View from one of the windows of my hut

View from the other window of my hut

My hut

I have a view of Phewa Tal a large calm lake upon which Pokhara is situated, and the steep green hills on the other side of the lake. Everywhere I look is lush and green, everything still fresh from the recent monsoon.

There are 6 seasons in Nepal: winter, spring, pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon, and autumn. It is now post-monsoon moving into autumn. I will stay here until the end of spring. Most travelers avoid Nepal during the dangerous, hot and wet monsoon.

I dress and head downstairs and next door to Maya Devi, the home of Himalayan Raptor Rescue and the Parahawking home base.

I enjoy a chiyaa, the traditional Nepali milk tea, and wander around the grounds. Across from the restaurant patio is a row of aviaries decorated with prayer flags and holding two Egyptian vultures and a black kite – the parahawking stars.

The spiral staircase leading up to the roof and our huts. 

After breakfast, I have a chance to weigh the two vultures (the kite is more wary of new people and is still at his high monsoon weight, he will need to come closer to flying weight before I start to handle him), and get to know their personalities a bit. They seem like great birds, and I’m looking forward to getting to know them better over the season.

Inside my hut

Egyptian vultures

Maya Devi as seen from the other side of the bay.

You can see the main house in the middle, 

and the small huts or houses to the left that are either
rented out or lived in by the staff here.

My house and hut are on the right.

Arrival

As my plane, the first of four, takes off, I take a long look at the mountains surrounding Anchorage. In a few days time, I will be surrounded by mountains again… just slightly larger mountains.

Buddha statue in the Delhi airport

In the meantime… a 4 hr flight to Seattle, a one hr layover, a flight to Newark, a 12 hr layover, a 14 hr flight to Delhi, a 10 hr layover, a supposed 2 hour, but turned 4 hr, flight to Kathmandu (2 hours are spent sitting on the tarmac in Delhi before we’re able to take off).

Once in Kathmandu, I’m still not at my final destination. I will be spending the next 5 ½ months in Pokhara, Nepal, working with raptors and paragliders. About 11 years ago, a falconer from England came to Nepal and went paragliding. He saw more birds of prey species during that ½ hour flight than he had during his whole time in England, and decided to stay here to work to protect them. He started Himalayan Raptor Rescue, a rescue and rehabilitation center, the first in Nepal. He then got together with some of his paragliding friends in order to better exercise the birds, having the birds fly up and follow the paragliders soaring in the sky. Soon they began offering this experience to tourists as well, and Parahawking was born. This is the only place in the world you can paraglide with trained birds. The proceeds from the paid tourist flights go to help their rescue work and also to vulture conservation efforts in Asia generally.

But before I head to Pokhara, I have a few hours to spend exploring Kathmandu. Coincidentally, friends from college, Quinlan and Rieko and their son Takeru, are in Nepal on holiday, and we are able to meet up for the afternoon. 

Rieko, Takeru and Quinlan

We catch up at lunch, then head out to the busy Kathmandu streets to see some of the sights. This is the middle of Dasain, a 15-day-long festival celebrating the goddess Durga, during which numerous animals such as buffalo and goats are sacrificed in her honor. Nepali schools are out of session for these two weeks, and many people are out to purchase food and new clothes for their celebrations. We make our way through the crowds to Durbar Square, a must-see in Kathmandu, filled with temples and religious significance. Everything is getting spruced up in Durga’s honor, and we see workers painting statues and stupas. 

Cows in Durbar Square, Kathmandu

Workers freshening paint for Dasain

We duck into a quiet courtyard for a chance to see Kumari, the living goddess. She appears at a third-story window, decked out in gold and fine clothes, with heavy kohl around her eyes. She stands there looking upon the people below, bestowing her blessings upon them for a few moments each hour. A girl of 3 is chosen for this honor, and she lives the life of a goddess until puberty, at which time she returns to live with her family and another Kumari is chosen. This Kumari is only 5 ½ years old, and as she stands at the window fidgeting with her outfit, it’s hard to imagine her as anything other than a little girl, removed from her life and family and become surrounded by worshippers and ritual. It is a great honor to be chosen as the Kumari, but I wonder if this little girl understands that honor? 

Window of Kumari, the Living Goddess

We move on to explore other sections of the square. We enter a huge courtyard doubly guarded by a statue of Vishnu and a policeman dressed in camouflage and sporting a bayonet. This courtyard in a few days time will be the site of numerous animal sacrifices to the goddess Kali as a ritual of Dasain. We then visit friends Quinlan and Rieko met on their previous trip to Nepal. We sit and drink chiyaa while Takeru runs and plays in the square with the children. Too soon, it is time to say our goodbyes, as I must meet up with Anita and Jessica, who just arrived at the airport and who I will be working with these next few months. We have a taxi ready to take us the final leg of the trip… to Pokhara. 

Sadhu in Durbar Square

Traveling around Nepal during Dasain, their largest festival of the year, is not usually recommended. Many Nepalis travel home to spend Dasain with their families, making travel difficult. We leave Kathmandu on crowded roads at 6 pm and don’t arrive in Pokhara until 2 am. I’m exhausted as we make our way to our respective huts, but spend some time unpacking and getting acquainted with my immediate surroundings before I settle down to sleep, excited to see what tomorrow, and the next 5 months will hold.