Long-billed vulture numbers recover in Pakistan after diclofenac ban

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/30/pakistan-vulture-diclofenac-ban


Populations of long-billed vultures, Gyps indicus, have recovered in Pakistan. Photograph: Alamy

Populations of the critically endangered long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus) in Pakistan are beginning to recover after the ban of diclofenac, a veterinary drug that is toxic to vultures, a new study shows.

Diclofenac was banned for veterinary use across south Asia in 2006 after it was discovered to be responsible for catastrophic declines in vulture populations in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh, by as much as 99% over 10 years.

The anti-inflammatory treatment was used to treat ailing cattle and other livestock, and when these carcasses were left out for vultures to scavenge, the birds died of kidney failure in their thousands.

[postulater]

1. Diclofenac is used in humans as Voltaren.

If you take this, don't let your carcass be eaten by vultures.