Rarities & Conservation: The Cow Shelters Bringing Vultures Back to Nepal’s Skies

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Rarities & Conservation: How “Cow Retirement Communities” Are Helping Save Nepal’s Vultures from Extinction

29 October 2025
By James Hamilton

Oriental White-backed vultures and Slender billed vulture. Credit: Devki Nanda (rspb-images.com)

In the grasslands of western Nepal, a quiet revolution is taking place — and it’s being led by an unlikely ally: the humble cow.

A new programme launched by the RSPB, Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), and Renewable World is taking an innovative approach to saving some of the world’s most endangered birds — vultures — while also supporting local communities. Their solution? Creating “cow retirement communities.”

These sanctuaries give elderly, abandoned, or unproductive cattle a dignified place to live out their lives. And when the animals eventually pass away, their carcasses provide a safe, toxin-free food source for vultures — birds that have been pushed to the edge of extinction by decades of human activity.

The Vulture Crisis in South Asia

Once a common sight soaring over villages and farmlands, vultures in Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have suffered one of the fastest population collapses ever recorded.

The culprit is diclofenac, a veterinary painkiller that’s harmless to cows but lethal to vultures that feed on contaminated carcasses. Just a few bites can cause fatal kidney failure. Despite bans introduced across the region (Nepal in 2006, Bangladesh in 2010), illegal sales and new toxic drugs continue to threaten vulture populations.

Among the worst affected is the White-rumped Vulture, once among the most abundant large raptors in the world. Today, it’s listed as Critically Endangered.

A Second “Vulture Safe Zone” in Nepal

The RSPB and its partners have been working to turn the tide since 2004. Their first major success came in 2021, when Nepal established its first official Vulture Safe Zone, a region where vulture-toxic drugs are banned, safe food is available, and awareness runs high.

Now, thanks to new funding from the Darwin Initiative, the team is scaling up. Their new project, launched this October, aims to create Nepal’s second Vulture Safe Zone — centered around Shuklaphanta National Park in the country’s west.

Cow Shelters with a Conservation Twist

At the heart of this effort are the “cow retirement communities.” These are not your average animal shelters — they’re eco-friendly hubs that care for unproductive or stray cattle and transform what was once a problem into a conservation asset.

Five existing cow shelters in the Shuklaphanta area will receive support to improve management, boost sustainability, and even develop new income streams such as biogas and compost production. The goal? Make these sanctuaries self-sufficient while ensuring that vultures have access to clean, safe carcasses.

Beyond Cows: Empowering Communities

The project is about much more than just vultures. It’s about people, too. To strengthen local livelihoods and reduce poverty, the programme will:

Install solar-powered milk chillers to support dairy farmers.
Improve cattle shelters to prevent predation.
Run cattle health camps promoting vulture-safe veterinary drugs.
Support stray dog neutering to reduce poisoning risks.
Conduct pharmacy surveys and awareness campaigns to keep dangerous drugs off the market.

By its conclusion, the team hopes to see the second Vulture Safe Zone officially declared — a major step toward restoring Nepal’s vulture populations and demonstrating how conservation and community development can thrive hand in hand.

“This project is a real win–win for people and nature,” says Mary Davies, RSPB Senior Species Recovery Officer. “By supporting farmers and making cow shelters sustainable, we can reduce poverty while providing vultures with the safe environments they urgently need.”

Thakur Thapa, Country Director of Renewable World Nepal, adds: “We’re thrilled about this partnership. Managing feral cows sustainably will benefit both communities and vultures. We’re ready to hit the ground running.”

A Hopeful Sky

If you’ve ever watched vultures circle high above, you know their presence means the ecosystem is healthy — nature’s cleanup crew doing vital work. Thanks to projects like this one, the skies over Nepal may soon see more of these majestic birds again, soaring freely where they belong.

Slender-billed vulture in flight. Credit: Paul Insua-Cao (rspb-images.com)

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