11 out of 16 vulture species across Asia, Africa & Europe are at a high risk of extinction.
The decline in vulture population was first realised in India & it was found that between 1985-1986 and 1996-1997, the population of a breed declined by 97%.
Similar declines were then found in Nepal & Pakistan.
Researchers from various countries collaborated & found that the birds were dying from severe kidney failure and had white paste on internal organs (post-mortem).
Both of these conditions were conclusively attributed to Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID).
It was found that Diclofenac, an NSAID, had become commonly available in South Asia in the 1990s (or early 2000s in some countries).
And it was as effective on cattle as on humans for reducing joint or muscular pain.
As it was cheap, people were applying Diclofenac on cattle to soothe them and to keep them working longer.
And since vultures scavenge on dead cattle, they were consuming Diclofenac from dead animals, 10% of which were found to be contaminated with the drug.
Research suggests that the decline in vulture population being seen could be caused by contamination of 1% cattle & 10% was way too much.
Diclofenac was banned for veterinary use in India, Nepal & Pakistan in 2006, and since then, declines have slowed down, but the drug is still used in certain parts illegally.
The drug is legally available & used in 5 European countries, including Spain & Italy, where 90% of European vultures live.
In Africa, poachers use the drug deliberately to target vultures, which can reveal poaching by circling in the sky; fewer vultures would mean less risk for them.
Vulture’s body parts are also in demand in Africa as these are used to make traditional medicine; that also incentivises their killing.
Vultures, through scavenging, clean the environment, and their absence means stray dogs and rodents feeding and littering carcasses, spreading diseases.
Or the governments collecting carcasses from fields, adding to the costs and greenhouse gas emissions; the collapse of vulture populations is estimated to have cost $34 billion to India alone.
