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The fall of the bird
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`Death Watch' on National Geographic investigates into the decline of vulture population
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DEATH COMES AS THE END Many factors endanger vultures.
Finally the truth is out. Our cattle are eating up vultures! No, no there is no role reversal in food chain. It is just that a drug rampantly prescribed for joint pains in cattle, has been found largely responsible for the drastic decline in the vulture population.
The discovery is part of Death Watch, a documentary by Miditech on the National Geographic channel.
"Vultures are highly unglamorous for making a wildlife documentary. They don't have the dynamism of a tiger or a leopard to catch the fancy of the audience. However, the topicality particularly their importance in the food chain forced us to take up the subject," says Nikhil Alva of Miditech.
Drama element
The Alvas, known to put an element of drama in their documentaries, roped in MTV VJ Cyrus Broacha. "Cyrus is one of the best known faces of the Parsi community, and the Parsis have suffered the most because of the sudden fall in the vulture population." Parsis follow a custom wherein they put their dead in a structure called Tower of Silence where they are consumed by scavenger birds, particularly vultures, within minutes. Because of the sudden fall in the vulture population, now the bodies rot for days.
The documentary throws up theories for the cause of the decline. There is a theory doing the rounds that the Air Force is exterminating the big birds because it is a source of concern for its jets.
Another theory hints at a mysterious viral disease. Nikhil is also contemplating a sequel to the episode to get to the depth of the matter. Death Watch is worth a watch.
A. K.
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