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Asian vultures appeal |
The problem of diclofenac
During the 1980s the oriental white-backed vulture was so abundant in India that it was probably the most common large bird of prey in the world. Since then, vultures rapidly started disappearing from the landscape, and were being found sick and dead across India, and in neighbouring Pakistan and Nepal. A study in 2004 solved the mystery of why the vultures were vanishing, identifying that a veterinary drug diclofenac was the main, if not the only, cause of vulture declines. The birds die of kidney failure after eating the carcasses of animals that have died within a few days of treatment with diclofenac. It has been shown that, even if less than 1% of animal carcasses contain lethal levels of the drug, it is enough to have caused the almost total collapse of vulture numbers. The manufacture of the veterinary form of the drug, as an anti-inflammatory treatment for livestock, was outlawed in India in 2006. However, it remains widely available. Furthermore, diclofenac formulated for humans is being used to treat livestock. The effect of this drug on birds of prey remind us of the devastating impact of the pesticide DDT on birds worldwide. It took years for governments to remove DDT from use. Diclofenac is so devastating that we do not have years if our threatened vultures are to be saved. Banning the retail sale of veterinary drug diclofenac and constructing more captive breeding centres is the only way to save the birds. Last modified: 16 June 2008 |
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White-rumped vulture - Guy Shorrock (RSPB)
Indian white-backed vulture - Goran Ekstrom
Bird illustrations by Mike Langman (RSPB)