Jatayu or "Vulture Restaurant"

 This day dawned clear and beautiful under the Annapurnas.  I learned that there is a leopard in the peak known as Machupuchare ("Fishtail peak").





Can you see it?  The tip of the peak is the ear of the huge cat who is looking to our right.  Focus on the snowy outline...
this is only a test!

After a fine Nepali breakfast at the homestay, three of us lucky folk got to head down to the Vulture Restaurant.  We felt especially fortunate because a fresh carcass was awaiting our arrival!  No, not for us but for the threatened vultures!

 As we walked down to the site of the restaurant, located on the banks of the Seti River, I thought about the "Vulture Restaurant" concept...developed in Nepal in 2009, and now being implemented in Pakistan and India.




The establishment of Vulture Safe Zones was inspired by the vultures of South Asia being on the brink of extinction.  In just 2 decades, five of the nine species of vultures of the Indian sub-continent have declined by up to 99.9%.  Bird Conservation Nepal, together with a group called Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction (SAVE), is working to reverse these declines by advocating bans on the veterinary use of diclofenac and other untested drugs in cattle, the main food of the vultures.  Among other conservation measures, this group is setting up Vulture Safe Feeding Sites (Vulture Restaurants) in different locations in Nepal.  At this time, there are 21 districts of Nepal that have been declared "diclofenac free" zones.


Vulture Restaurants in Nepal are the first to be community managed.  Many are called "Jatayu Restaurants" after the Hindu vulture god "Jatayu.  Cows are, of course, regarded as sacred animals in Nepal, so having them as the single menu item at the restaurant takes some creativity.  This need has been met with having an adjacent "cow hospice" where old and "retired" cattle come to be fed and cared for until their natural time to die.  The cows are fed diclofenac-free food and thus are safe for the vultures.



Here we are at the restaurant where we were feeling fortunate that there was a recent release of cow spirit which does NOT happen every day.  We had heard stories of people coming and awaiting such an event in vain for days.  We were led down by this local man Krishnaman, who was sporting quite an impressive knife (which I was pretty sure he was going to use it on a cow.)  After about an hour we arrived at a bluff beside the glacial blue-green Seti River where it became obvious we were getting close.  Feathers seemingly from the Jurassic could be found among the bones scattered in the wintery, riparian forest!


We were taken to a small building,
with little viewing windows
where we would watch
if the vultures came.

Our guide then, immediately became a butcher of sorts, skinning the dead cow to make it easier for the big birds to consume.  They really do aim to please at this establishment.

He made quick work of the carcass and dragged it to "the place" which was right in view from our tiny windows.  Now we wait.


We heard a story of a National Geographic camera crew, there to film a documentary on the big, threatened birds, who waited all day after the carcass was in place.  The vultures never came close to the cow that day.  So we were ready for any outcome.  I had already seen enough to feel fortunate!



We waited patiently....


for about 4 minutes when the first birds showed up!  It was really exciting to watch the two cattle egrets eating the flies who were already on the scene!

Which one is this?

Then after another wait, maybe half a minute, the first vulture landed nearby.  The White-rumped Vulture was a bit tentative at first, then flew over and got closer and closer...and took a rip at the tasty meal.







Another minute and a Cinereous Vulture flew in (one of the heaviest flying birds reaching up to 31 pounds or 14kg!) and then a Himalayan Griffon and another and another...and in about another minute, it was what I would call a true "Feeding Frenzy".

Can you ID them all?

We counted 62 vultures in all!  Four species enjoyed the meal at the restaurant this day.  There were 52 Himalayan Griffon, 10 White-Rumped Vultures, 3 Cinereous Vultures and 1 Red-headed Vulture.  See if you can pick them out in the frenzy!  I was in a kind of heaven watching these legendary beasts devour everything from the bones, not that we could see what was happening under all the feathered, flapping wildness.

The one Red-headed Vulture!

New birds would come flying in and dive in with all the gusto of a hungry carrion eater at a feast!  The squawking and screaming of the birds was indescribable.  I thought of Peter Jackson getting his inspiration for Nazgul at such an event!

Who are these?

Then as suddenly as they had appeared, one, then two then groups of species flew off.










It felt so desolate when in a minute or two,
we were alone on that bluff with
naught but a pile of clean,white bones.


But I know that I felt different.  Full and satisfied.  After this day, I am changed.  I have shared in a meal at...The Vulture Restaurant!