Only 12000-38000 left in the world!

Once a symbol of Egyptian Royalty, this bird is now on it's way to extinction!!

𝓐 𝓵𝓾𝓬𝓴𝔂 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭...

I was lucky enough today to spot not one but three juvenile Egyptian vultures. I am not joking when I say that this species may soon dwindle in numbers till it becomes extinct. As per the report http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22695180/0, the Egyptian vulture population is steadily declining and it is now placed in IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.

Here is the picture I took this morning with my Nikon P900 near the outskirts of my hometown.

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Though spotting of these vultures in Africa and Indian subcontinent is still possible, typically we get to see one vulture since these vultures prefer to fly high and travel as much as 80 miles a day in search of food. They are also migratory birds who spend their winters in Africa.

Under the circumstances, spotting 3 juvenile Egyptian vultures, perched on ground in early morning light was indeed a very lucky thing.

𝓦𝓱𝔂 𝓫𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓾𝓰𝓵𝔂 𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓭?

I personally believe that none of the God's creatures are ugly. Each one has it's purpose and it's own strengths which make it beautiful in a way.

Historically, the Egyptian vulture was considered to be sacred for Goddess Isis and also taken by the Pharoha's as a symbol of their royalty.

(Image Source)

In Africa, though not the Egyptian variety, vultures were held sacred by the Royal family of Kumasi. The legend of the vulture carrying an offering to the gods for bringing rain is famous in the Yoriba tribe. There are many folklore and legends about vultures.

In India, the famous epic Ramayana has references to a giant king of vultures named Jatayu, who opposed the 10 headed demon king Ravana.

(Image source)

All these folklore and legends demonstrate the importance given to vultures by our ancestors. This was for a reason. Vultures, as we are aware, are scavengers who help to clear away rotting vegetation and meat. They clean up carcasses and help in sanitation. They were, therefore, instrumental in prevention of spread of diseases in ancient times.

Their role still remains pivotal in protecting the hygiene and ecosystem in the rural regions of the world.

𝓗𝓾𝓶𝓪𝓷 𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓭𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝔁𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓔𝓰𝔂𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓪𝓷 𝓿𝓾𝓵𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼

Sadly, an elegant member of the vulture species, the Egyptian vulture, is being driven to extinction. Our children or grandchildren will soon see this bird only in books and media if we do not do something about their protection.

The following factors are causing a dwindling population of these vultures:

• Deliberate poisoning of carcasses by hunters and poachers

• Heavy antibiotics given to cattle affect the vultures when they eat meat from carcasses of such cattle.

• Frequent disturbance faced in nesting areas. The vultures choose only one mate for life and every year during the breeding season, produce two eggs. Their nests are usually high up in ridges and hillocks. However - growing construction activity is causing increasing disturbance. The parent vultures are forced to leave their nest and move on often. The eggs either do not get incubated or even if the young vultures manage to get born, their survival rate, without their parents to support them, is abysmal.

𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝔀𝓮 𝓭𝓸 𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓹

With the help of the powerful Steemit community, we can try to spread the message about the conservation of habitat and the Egyptian vultures. On a personal level, I intend to support our local group of photographers to make the place we found the vultures an informal 'safe zone' by preventing too much activity around the place. This will encourage, hopefully, for the birds to make that spot as a regular breeding spot.

I intend to support purchase of more photography and communication equipment for the group so that they can keep a more constant vigil. I intend to raise roughly $1000 for the cause through various means (including earnings from my post). I will shell out whatever amount I can from my own pocket if I can not raise it through benevolent friends of the cause and some NGOs (non-Goverenment Organizations). Please wish me luck everyone and give your blessings.

In Conclusion:

Let us do our bit Steemians - If nothing else, please help in enhancing awareness about the need to protect the habitat for the Egyptian Vultures

Steemians, please comment freely to share your experiences, knowledge and views about such conservation efforts. Hopefully, Steemit will someday become the champion of such causes if we all participate and support initiatives for wildlife awareness and conservation. Thanks

Note: All images except for the wildlife photo and the title image created by me are from pixabay.com. Two images are from sources other than pixabay.com (sources mentioned for those below the image)

Gif crafted by the Legendary @stellabelle for me