Madhya Pradesh forest department is planning to open the state’s first ‘vulture restaurant’ to conserve the winged scavengers while taking a cue from their counterparts in Pakistan and Nepal. The so-called restaurant will serve vulture delicacies: diclofenac-free cow and buffalo carcasses. Ranger J P Rawat said, “We are discussing our plan with local villagers. Once the project is sanctioned, we will establish the restaurant in open forest land.” He added opening up restaurants where the scavengers could be fed with diclofenac-free meat was an established way to help these critically endangered birds. The plan includes to secure carcasses from surrounding villages. The forest department will also ensure the animals have not been treated with anti-inflammatory drugs before they died and then the carcass will be transported to the restaurant. Rawat said similar initiatives were already successful projects in Pakistan and Nepal besides Maharashtra wherein a restaurant started to provide vultures with uncontaminated carcasses. This has also led to increase of nesting pairs. He informed, “Our plan is to create a safe space where vultures can eat without accidentally being poisoned to death.” Diclofenac is an anti-inflammatory drug widely used on livestock which causes kidney failure in vultures, leading to their death within three days. To prevent other animals from feasting on vultures’ food at the proposed restaurant, forest officials will fence the area besides platforms on which carcasses will be served. Wildlife enthusiasts and forest rangers working on vulture conservation are also mulling upon taking help from members of Parsi community, via Bombay Parsi Panchayat for funds to open up such restaurants at places around vulture habitats. Earlier, villagers used to skin dead animals for their hides and dump the carcass in the field for scavengers, but now they take sick animals to slaughterhouses. Villagers, especially farmers, around Orcha region are being contacted for their opinion on this initiative by forest rangers.