Three species of vultures in South Asia, including the white-rumped vulture, have seen their populations decline by over 90% in recent decades due to the use of the veterinary drug diclofenac. Diclofenac is toxic to vultures and causes kidney failure when they eat the remains of livestock treated with the drug. Conservation efforts are underway to breed vultures in captivity and ban dangerous drugs, but diclofenac contamination of the vultures' food supply still threatens their survival. International organizations like IUCN are working with countries in the region to establish protected zones and continue conservation actions to save South Asia's critically endangered vultures from extinction.

1. ORGANISED BY: SUPPORTED BY:

2. CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• HOW AND WERE DO THEY FIT?
• SOUTH ASIAN VULTURE STATUS
• PROBLEMS AND CAUSES
• THE CONSEQUENCES
• ACTION TAKEN
• ROLE OF IUCN
• HOPE….
• REFERENCE

3. INTRODUCTION
What are vultures?
• Scavenging birds
• Found on every continent except
Antarctica and Australia.
• Characteristic of many vultures is
a bald head, devoid of normal
feathers.
Mystery, Myth and Legend..
• Earlier, considered sacred in Hindu
mythology. The bird died while trying
to rescue Sita, the wife of Hindu god-
king Ram.
• Now unpopular:
– Dismissed as dirty scavengers.
– Used as a metaphor for those who
prey on the weak or dying
– Associated with negative
connotations of cowardice and
selfishness.

4. HOW AND WHERE DO THEY
FIT IN THE WORLD?
 Can be regarded as a natural
resources, like air and water,
which provide society with no. of
‘services’ which have an impact
on:
-human health
-economic activity
-environmental quality
 As primary carcass disposers.
 In rituals for the dead of Parsi
community-”The Tower of
Silence.”
 According to Parsi beliefs, Earth,
Fire, and Water are sacred
elements, and both cremation
and burial are sacrilegious.
 For the deceased Parsi to reach
heaven, vultures serve as
intermediaries between earth and
sky by consuming the body,
liberate the soul.

5. • Vulture's ability to digest infected,
rotting meat without impending
any negative effects to its own
health.
• They are nature's own cleaning
devices.
• Understand their behaviour and
breeding productivity.
• To Measure the vulture
population and conduct a
nationwide monitoring to produce
a recovery plan by establishing a
captive care facility for sick &
potentially healthy vultures.

6. , , ,
(Gyps bengalensis)

7. (White-rumped vulture) :
(White-rumped vulture) Gyps bengalensis, -, , -(Critically endangered)
.

8. SOUTH ASIA’S VULTURE
STATUS
 Population surveys have
revealed declines of resident
Gyps spp. vultures in excess of
98% over a 12-year period in
Bangladesh and 92% in a 3-
year period in Pakistan. A
rapid decline is also in
progress in Nepal.
 Because of the evidence of
widespread and rapid
population decline, three
vulture species were listed by
IUCN, The World Conservation
Union, in 2000 as “Critically
Endangered” (Bird Life 2000),
which is the highest category
of endangerment.
distribution of the three most endangered Bangladeshn vultures

9. SPECIES EFFECTED
Out of 6 species
found in Bangladesh
three vulture species
were listed by IUCN,
the World
Conservation Union,
in 2000 as ‘Critically
Endangered’.
, , ,

10. PROBLEMS….
 SHARP DECLINE IN THE VULTURE
POPULATION.
• 95% decline by 2003 and 99.9%
decline by 2007 of G. bengalensis
sp. and 97.4% of G. indicus and
tenoirestris sp.
• Two decades ago, there were 85
million; now they are about 3000-
4000.(Prakash et. al.).

12. THE CAUSE…
 DIFFERENT THEORIES
• Ecological factors –lower
unavailability of food and
nesting sites?
• Use of veterinary drugs
• Epidemic of infectious
disease?
• Use of DDT in agriculture
and malaria control?
• Effect of transportation
infrastructure, and
reacreation.
 USE OF DICLOFENAC
• After much work on possible
causes of the decline, the culprit
was discovered by Dr. Lindsay
Oaks and his team in 2003:
diclofenac.
• An anti-inflammatory agent
deployed successfully in human
medicines for decade in EU.
• But in Bangladesh, Pakistan,
Nepal it has been deployed in
veterinary medicines in particular
for live stocks.
• Acts as a fatal poison to vultures
and they die from kidney failure.

13. ..
-, , -, -, , ,
-, , , , , , ?’

15.  Later Ketoprofen was introduced as substitute for Diclofenac. But, it
was realized that even Ketoprofen is equally harmful for vultures.
 Ketoprofen , like diclofenac, is an anti-inflammatory drug administered
to livestock to reduce pain and swelling caused by rheumatism or
arthritis.

16. MELOXICAM
 With lot of research, now
Meloxicam is invented
which is not harmful for
animals, especially
Vultures.
 Experts say the new drug
Meloxicam, is as effective
as Diclofenac in treating
livestock, but does not
harm birds.

17. THE CONSEQUENCES • Why does their survival
matters?
• Absence of vultures has led to
growing population of minor
scavengers - rats or wild dogs - a
potential threat for diseases like
rabies, anthrax etc..
• Use of expensive alternatives by
many cattle owner for the methods
of carcass disposal for public health
like to have carcass buried or burnt.
• Impact on the economy of hide and
bone collectors as their lives
become harder who relay on clean
carcasses to earn living.

18. :
¯, , , , , ,

19. ACTION TAKEN
o Vulture Breeding And Conservation
Centre established at Rema khalenga
wildlife Sanctuary.
o INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP At
KATHMANDU IN FEB. 2004.
o NATIONAL BOARD FOR WILDLIFE
(NBWL) recommended banning of the
veterinary drug “diclofenac”.
o The Central Zoo Authority of
Bangladesh has committed an amount
of Rs.1 crore for supporting vulture
conservation programme at 4 centers in
the zoos at Junagadh, Hyderabad,
Bhopal, Bhubhaneshwar in 2006-07.
o Monitoring of Vultures nesting Colonies.

20. ROLE OF IUCN
to establish 100 kilometer radius ‘Vulture Safe Zones’.
clear of diclofenac and other potentially dangerous veterinary
painkillers.
Breeding centers and release programmes.
,

21. THERE IS HOPE FOR SOUTH ASIA’S VULTURE…..
These conservation action have achieved substantial success and
have resulted in the following major achievements:
All vulture range states in the Bangladeshn subcontinent have banned the
veterinary use of diclofenac.
Regular monitoring of NSAID residues in cattle carcasses shows that the
level of diclofenac contamination of the vulture food supply has fallen
substantially and use of meloxicam increased markedly in Bangladesh.

23. REFERENCE
• Report of the international South Asian vulture
recovery plan workshop .
• Counting the Cost of Vulture Declines – Economic
Appraisal of the Benefits of the Gyps Vulture in
Bangladesh- Anil markandaya, Tim Taylor.
• A blue Print for the recovery of South Asia’s
critically endengerd Gyps vultures.
• http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-
nature/vulture.html

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