After the successful completion of conservation works in the Annapurna region through RSG as a great template, large neighbouring community groups are requesting now similar efforts in their areas to enhance their conservation knowledge, build up capacity in scientific work and to save the existing colonies of endangered scavengers present in their localities.

From our previous RSG project we have recorded five species of vultures i.e. least concerned Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus), Himalayan Vulture (Gyps himalayensis), Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), endangered Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) and critically endangered White-Rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) along with other 11 species of birds of prey from the Himalayan regions (https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/bitstream/handle/11122/2592/Vultures%20Annapurna_FH4.xml.html?sequence=6).

The Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is declining in virtually all parts of its range (Birdlife International 2013). In India, it has declined by >90% in the last decade; European populations have declined by >50% over the last three generations and African populations also appear to have declined significantly, as do Arabian populations (Jennings 2010). Hence the species has been recently upgraded to Endangered by IUCN. Illegal poisoning through the use of poison baits targeted against terrestrial predators, consumption of inappropriately disposed poisoned animals and veterinary drug Diclofenac seems to be the main threats to the species (Hernandez 2009 and Cuthbert 2006).

Most of the research projects are limited to lowland Vultures. Only trace documentations are recorded from Himalayan regions. Hence, this participatory project is crucial for conserving these remaining globally threatened birds, before being locally extinct from the Nepal Himalayas or reaching the thresholds of critically endangered.

Despite conservation of this globally threatened species being of high priority for conservation agencies, information is still lacking on the status of targeted species in Nepal. Therefore this project will assess the scientific research and monitoring of this slow reproducing and long lived species using scientific protocols for modelling, comparison and future predictions in Nepal Himalaya using 'poison distribution', non-parametric machine learning algorithms and other analytical tools with community involvement, capacity building training sessions, advocacy workshops and outreach programs- the key components of conservation efforts.

This collaborative project will support our government to update the national vulture conservation action plan. Also, it will support the program proposed by "Saving Asia's Vulture from Extinction (SAVE)" consortium and other conservation agencies via implementing prioritised activities (www.save-vultures.org).