Vulture culture matters: indigenous knowledge and changing landscapes of nilgiris biosphere reserve, india

Landscapes are essentially ecosystems that are an interplay between the environment and human civilizations. These landscapes represent the common unit of analysis for historical ecology as the landscape holds the record of human activity on earth. The Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve (NBR) in South India, enjoys the unique status of harbouring critically endangered mammals like tigers, elephants, hyenas, and an established corridor of Elephants and critically endangered Gyps vultures. Fieldwork was conducted from 2017-2019 with the tribal communities employing the standard anthropological method of participant observation. For bird identification, we used the photo-elicitation technique. We carried out semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Information was sought using a triangulation procedure. We documented the indigenous knowledge of the Irulas and Todas, the two dominant communities, their cultural roles, changes in tribal practices that impacted landscape changes that impacted the decline of vultures, and the carcass protocol among the three groups of vultures and the traditional names and practices were also recorded. The modern management tactics destroyed the cultural connection that existed between the indigenous populations and the vultures and other natural scavengers. Our study explores the associated indigenous knowledge of vultures and the changes that happened in the landscape of the NBR of India.