Once considered the most abundant large birds of prey in the world, populations of three species of Gyps vultures on the Indian subcontinent have been reduced to less than 1% of their population since about 1990 as a result of being poisoned by consuming livestock carcasses contaminated with a pharmaceutical contaminant.
The extinction of these populations on the Indian subcontinent would have far- reaching ecological, economic, cultural, and public health ramifications. In 2003, our diagnostic investigation confirmed that a pharmaceutical drug called diclofenac is the agent responsible for the decline. Vultures are highly sensitive to its toxic effects. Diclofenac is widely used in the veterinary treatment of domestic livestock, which are the vultures’ primary food source. In 2006, the governments of India and Pakistan banned the manufacture of veterinary diclofenac, while manufacturers in Nepal voluntarily withdrew the drug from the market.
Our discovery that diclofenac is responsible for the decline in Gyps vulture populations represents, for the first time, that a pharmaceutical can have such widespread and devastating consequences for wild species. This finding highlights a new global threat to ecosystems and biodiversity. Our ongoing studies will act as a model in developing scientifically sound conservation strategies to this new form of environmental contamination.
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