Mo Ganji: White-rumped Vulture | Weißrückengeier | Gyps bengalensis | No. 240/250 from work group 8/99

White-rumped Vulture | Weißrückengeier | Gyps bengalensis

Mo Ganji turns toward the white-rumped vulture — a large scavenging bird once abundant across the skies of South Asia — by letting the single line move toward essence rather than function or decline. The line condenses the being into a reduced coherence, setting aside wingspan, flight and ecological role so that presence can surface without explanation. In Ganji’s understanding, the line does not belong to the vulture alone; it remains open, reminding us that every form is also a human concept provisionally placed upon a living continuum.

Gyps bengalensis is listed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List. Formerly one of the most numerous large birds in the world, the species suffered an unprecedented population collapse beginning in the 1990s. In some regions, numbers declined by more than 99%, leaving only small, fragmented populations in India, Nepal and parts of Southeast Asia.

The principal cause of decline was poisoning from diclofenac, a veterinary drug used in livestock that proved lethal to vultures feeding on treated carcasses. Although bans have reduced its availability, recovery remains slow due to the species’ low reproductive rate. Additional threats include habitat loss, food scarcity and ongoing exposure to toxic substances.

Ganji’s single line opens a space in which the vulture can be encountered beyond decay or utility. It allows the being to be perceived as a life bound to cycles of renewal and removal, suggesting how the disappearance of those who clear what remains can unsettle entire systems — not through absence alone, but through the loss of balance they quietly maintained.