A Long-billed vulture | Photos by WWF-Pakistan / Zahoor Salmi
Abundant and healthy animal carcasses and a suitable habitat with an undisturbed area to lay eggs is all that the vultures in South Asia ask for to thrive.
Of the nine South Asian species of this large ungainly bird, eight are found in Pakistan. These include the Oriental White-backed vulture, the Long-billed vulture, the Red-headed vulture, the Egyptian vulture, the Cinereous vulture, the Lammergeier, the Himalayan Griffon vulture and the Eurasian griffon vulture.
However, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has placed three of these species on the ‘critically endangered’ list of threatened species. Of these three, the White-backed and the Long-billed vultures are both found in Tharparkar, Sindh.