International Vulture Awareness Day: Know why this bird is important for environment

International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD) falls on the first Saturday in September every year and is a way to show the human kind's appreciation for vultures and the ecosystem services they provide. The initiative is run jointly by the Birds of Prey Programme of the Endangered Wildlife Trust in South Africa and the Hawk Conservancy Trust in England.

Through IVAD, both the organisation try to raise awareness about the threats that vultures are facing today and promote a co-ordinated international effort to publicise the conservation of vultures to a wider audience.

International Vulture Awareness Day

Vultures are under severe threat in recent years, particularly due to poisoning. Globally, 75% of all vultures are threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. A new analysis of data from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and BirdLife International found that 30 per cent of 557 raptor species worldwide are considered near threatened, vulnerable or endangered or critically endangered. Eighteen species are critically endangered, including the Philippine eagle, the hooded vulture and the Annobon scops owl, the researchers found.

Of threatened birds of prey that are active mostly during the day — including most hawks, eagles and vultures — 54 per cent were falling in population, the study found. The same was true for 47 per cent of threatened nocturnal raptors, such as owls.

History of International Vulture Awareness Day

The International Vulture Awareness Day began in South Africa and the UK. The first IVAD was observed in September 2009. Last year the day coincided with the Teachers' Day in India on September 5.

Aim of International Vulture Awareness Day

The aim of International Vulture Awareness Day is for each participating organisation to carry out their own activities that highlight vulture conservation and awareness.

Vultures are important to the ecosystem

Vulture is one such bird which is considered very important to our ecosystem. Vultures avoid the ill effects of dead animals in the environment by eating dead animals or other carcasses. Therefore, their presence is very important. For the last decade, the trend of decreasing the number of vultures in their numbers like Africa, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh is also being seen in India.

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