Vultures

Vultures are a characteristic, distinctive and spectacular component of the biodiversity of the environments they inhabit. They also provide critically important ecosystem services by cleaning up carcasses and other organic waste in the environment. The IUCN Red List status of African-Eurasian vultures has seen drastic changes for the worse in recent years.

Vultures, the largest and highest flying raptors, play an important role in ecology and culture. The vulture populations in Bangladesh are facing the same fate as the Gyps vultures of South Asia, which have suffered a catastrophic decline. White-rumped vultures, which were once the most abundant birds in the country, now number only a bit more than two hundred and fifty.

Vol. 15, no.3 (July-September 2014) is a special issue of MISTNET about vultures and the SOS-funded project "Conserving South Asia's Threatened Vultures," part of the SAVE program. 

More than 150 experts, scientists, NGO representatives, students and other interested individuals participated in the International Conference on the “Conservation and Management of Vulture Populations” (14-16 November 2005, Thessaloniki, Greece). Emphasis was given to transnational cooperation and representatives of Balkan NGOs (Bulgaria, Croatia, FYROM, Serbia and Montenegro) as well as Turkey, Ukraine and Israel were invited to participate.