As many as nine vultures have died after feeding on a poisoned dog carcass in Motinagar, ward 10 of Buddhabhumi Municipality, Kapilvastu. Among the dead were four critically endangered white-rumped vultures and five near-threatened Himalayan griffon vultures.

The vultures died after feeding on the carcass of a dead dog lying near the eastern bank of the Banaganga River in Motinagar village, along the Taulihawa-Gorusinghe road section, said Jaya Prakash Pandey, chair of the Tilaurakot Community Forest Management Group.

Pandey said locals reported the stench, prompting forest officials to dig a pit and bury the dead vultures on Friday, a day after receiving the information. Three vultures were found in a weakened condition, perched on trees. He said the strong stench made the burial task especially challenging.

Vulture expert Krishna Prasad Bhusal expressed concern over the deaths, calling the incident distressing despite national ongoing conservation efforts and public awareness campaigns. He noted that white-rumped vultures are among the rarest in the world and that Himalayan griffon vultures, which migrate to the Tarai during winter, were nearing their return period.

Nepal is home to an estimated 2,000 white-rumped vultures and 10,000 Himalayan griffon vultures. Bhusal stressed that those responsible must be held accountable under the law to prevent recurrence.

Vultures play a critical ecological role by consuming carcasses, reducing the spread of diseases such as rabies, plague and cholera. They also help prevent the transmission of anthrax, brucellosis, and tuberculosis among livestock. Ankit Bilash Joshi, vulture conservation officer at the Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), said vultures clean the environment by feeding on decayed meat and bones, which most carnivores avoid. Their highly acidic stomachs allow them to safely digest meat containing harmful pathogens.

Ornithologist Hem Sagar Baral added that in the absence of vultures, carcasses remain scattered in the environment, increasing the risk of infectious diseases spreading to humans through dogs, jackals, rats and flies that feed on them.

Vultures can spot carcasses from up to eight times farther than humans can, and typically consume about 1 kilogram of meat every three days. They can fly up to 300 kilometres in search of carrion. Their ecological contribution has been economically valued. In the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, the ecosystem services provided by vultures are estimated at $1.8 billion annually.

Between 2011 and 2023, 224 vultures from seven species were found dead due to poisoning across 22 locations in Nepal. Himalayan griffons were the most affected, with 108 deaths, followed by 93 white-rumped vultures. Other vulture species were affected in smaller numbers, according to Bhusal.

In 2021, the conservation organisation Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction (SAVE) declared Nepal the world’s first vulture safe zone, protecting vultures and their habitats. SAVE is a consortium of 24 partners working together to conserve endangered vulture species in Asia.