Griffon Vulture
Surfbirds News: RSPB Archives
A coalition of 100 bird organisations across the world is today [Tuesday 29 March, 2005] appealing to the governments of Pakistan and Nepal to follow the lead of the Indian government in banning the use of a veterinary drug proven to have caused the population crash of three species of vulture in southern Asia.
The decline of the three vultures is thought to be the most rapid decline of any species of bird, even surpassing the rate of decline of the dodo, before its extinction.
The three vultures are already regionally extinct in several parts of southern Asia, and BirdLife International, represented in the UK by the RSPB, says that without further action from other countries where the birds occur, further extinctions are inevitable in the near future.
Griffon Vulture, Cyprus, Agios Joannis April 2004 © Daniele Occhiato
A recent statement issued by the Indian government confirmed the intent to phase out the veterinary use of diclofenac within six months. Diclofenac, which is used in southern Asia as a livestock treatment, is toxic to vultures when the birds feed on the carcasses of treated cattle. The drug causes kidney failure leading to rapid mortality.
Chris Bowden, the RSPB’s vulture-programme manager, said: "The Indian government is to be congratulated on taking this huge step that we have working towards ever since the discovery that diclofenac was such an acute problem.
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