Indian vultures face extinction due to diclofenac poisoning

Scientists have warned that the Indian vulture species are on the brink of extinction due to diclofenac poisoning. The avian scavengers could be wiped out of the country in less than 10 years if the livestock painkiller in not banned immediately.

The Indian White-rumped vultures, the long-billed vultures and the slender-billed vultures are the three species, whose population have declined  by nearly 99 per cent. According to scientists, from 40 million vultures counted in 1992, the numbers have come down to a few hundred birds in the whole country in 2007.

Vultures are important species in the eco-system as they prevent the spread of diseases by feeding on animal carcasses. India is facing hygiene problems as dead farm animals left in the open, which are usually consumed by vultures, now tend to rot, due to the decline in their population. Also, in the absence of vultures the carcasses are eaten by dogs and rodents, which make them vulnerable to deadly diseases such as rabies.

The vultures also play an important role for the Parsi community in India, who depend on the birds for the ritualistic disposal of their dead.

Experts say that the alarming drop in the vulture population is mainly due to the  residue of the drug declophenac in dead animals, which the vultures feed.  Diclofenac is commonly used to relieve pains in farm animals. The drug causes kidney failures in vultures, which ultimately results in death of the avian population.

Despite the ban on the manufacture of veterinary diclofenac by the Indian government, animal conservationists claim that its still widely in use because its cheaper than Meloxicam, a safer drug than diclofenac.