http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=15198

Authorities culling chickens at a poultry farm in the bird flu affected area of Gharipatan in Pokhara and spray vehicle affected area.
Images: Krishna Mani Baral
Dr Amar Shah said a rapid response team had destroyed 37 kilograms of chicken, 1,370 eggs and 1,183 kg of poultry feed in the affected area. The official said they were checking whether anybody had hidden their fowls. Clearing cages and spreading pesticides are said to start soon.
Dr Shah warned all to stay alert since the dangerous disease had spread over a wider geography. There has, however, been no human casualty so far in the region. The symptoms of a bird flu infection are difficulty in respiration, headache, burning sensation in the throat and high fever.
Meanwhile, Western Regional Hospital (WRH) in Pokhara is prepared to treat patients in case of a bird flu outbreak among humans. Dr Ashok Chaurasiya, director, WRH, said the health facility was capable of tackling the dangerous disease.
Butchers in the area said consumers of poultry products had not decreased significantly in number in Gharipatan despite its declaration as an avian-flu affected zone. Per kg price of chicken however fell Rs 100 to 230 a week after the news of the outbreak.
According to entrepreneurs, about 8,000 birds are consumed in Pokhara daily. An estimated Rs 150 million has been invested in poultry farming in Pokhara.
http://thehimalayantimes.com/index.php

According to a local people Gyan bahadur jalari, the vultures fed on a carcass of a mule and finished their meal in a matter of minutes.
As Vultures feed on carrion, they are considered to be of great importance to the environment. Prof of Geography at Prithvi Narayan Campus, Dr Krishan KC said the future of the Vultures had been in danger after people started burying the carcasses of animals instead of throwing it away as animal carcass is the main food of vultures. He added programmes should be brought out of conservation of vulture. Vultures play a major role in environment conservation by preying on dead animals. However, eating animals that had died after consuming poison had proven to be fatal for vultures.
The future of vultures was also endangered due to medicines used in domestic cattle as they die after feeding on cattle that were fed a medicine called Diclofenac, Birds Conservation Nepal Chief Executive Officer Dr Hum Bahadur Gurung said. However, Diclofenac was banned in Nepal and a safer substitute, Meloxicam, was found, which won’t be as harmful to the vultures.
Organisations like Nepal’s Bird Conservation have been working proactively in monitoring the ban, educating farmers and cattle owners about the use of Meloxicam, and in setting up vulture restaurants (where birds can feed safely on healthy meat put out by restaurant owers) in Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Dang and Kaski. Eight species of vultures are found in Nepal.

A vulture restaurant is soon going to open in Pokhara, a resort town in mid Nepal. It is good news to all the animal rights activists and environmentalists. The main objective of proposed restaurant is the preservation of vulture and environment for a good ecosystem.

Images: Krishna Mani Baral
The restaurent is formally opening on January 18, 2010 at Ghachwok village. For the existence of vultures, it is important to provide them fresh and healthy meat, said Birds Conservation Nepal Chief Executive Officer Dr Hum Bahadur Gurung. According to him, this restaurant will be run by local community.
Eight species of vultures are found in Nepal, the white-rumped and slender-billed vultures are categorized as critically endangered. The numbers of both species have plunged in Nepal and India and scientists say the decline is largely due to farmers dosing their cattle with diclofenac, a drug used to treat inflammation, poisoning the scavenging birds.
All eight species vultures which are found Nepal are found in Pokhara valley so it is good news restaurant for vultures is open in pokhara Animal Rights Nepal founder Krishna Mani Baral said.
Studies have found that last 15 years 95 percent of South Asia’s vulture population has vanished. The fall in their population has been linked to an anti-inflammatory drug used by farmers to treat livestock. Residues of the drug in animal carcasses poisoned the vultures in large numbers.

In the early 2000s, locals in areas where vultures nested started noticing increased numbers of rats and dogs. Carcasses of dead animals by the riverbeds were left untouched for days and vulture nests in the forests started disappearing.

Images: Krishna Mani Baral

Conservationists confirmed that the vulture numbers had indeed dropped alarmingly - in 15 years 95 per cent of vultures had vanished from south Asia. Studies of dead vultures revealed that an anti-inflammatory drug called Diclofenac, used on livestock, was causing kidney failure in vultures that fed on their carcasses. A vulture summit was organised in 2004, and government officials and conservationists from Nepal, India and Pakistan committed to take action immediately. Diclofenac was banned in Nepal and a safer substitute, Meloxicam, was found. Organisations like Nepal’s Bird Conservation have been working proactively in monitoring the ban, educating farmers and cattle owners about the use of Meloxicam, and in setting up vulture restaurants (where birds can feed safely on healthy meat put out by restaurant owers) in Nawalparasi, Rupandehi and Dang. There are no official numbers, but ornithologists say that nesting has increased, especially around the vulture restaurant areas. In 2004, no colony had been found in the Koshi Tappu area. In October 2009 a similar survey found 32 nests of the White-rumped Vulture. It is not known whether this is a new colony, or one made up of vultures that withstood the effects of Diclofenac. But the initiative really took off last month when locals of nine districts declared they would become Diclofenac free. Experts warn that vulture numbers may not go back to what they were 15 years ago, but their re-emergence is a positive sign. This journey for vulture conservationists hasn’t been easy, but locals in native vulture areas are once again seeing new nests appearing every season, more birds are circling in the skies and animal carcasses are disappearing within hours of being put out. Today even neighbouring countries have acknowledged this success: Pakistan has opened a vulture restaurant in Sindh and similar initiatives are in the pipeline in various states of India. This is a big success story for Nepal, from which there are many lessons to learn. It is a perfect example of pan-regional cooperation, for one. But community has had a crucial role to play. Considering the stigma attached to vultures in many south Asian cultures, it’s hard to believe communities in rural Nepal would want to save these big scavengers. Not anymore, say vulture experts at Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), which leads the vulture conservation effort. In the areas where the vultures roam, the communities understand why saving scavengers is important. In fact, it is because of the community’s involvement that the vulture restaurants have been so successful. The community looks after the restaurants, monitors the trees where the vultures are nesting so they are not cut down, and plays an important role in advocacy. The biggest lesson here is the power of community. From saving forests to roads and using radio as a development tool, community involvement has very often been key to the success of projects in Nepal. As we start another new year, here’s hoping policymakers understand the true meaning of people power and promote projects for community partnership and ownership. http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/2010/01/8/INTERESTINGTIMES/16689

Happy International Animal Rights Day 2009. Save animal, Save save ecosystem, save future.
Image: Krishna Mani Baral