There are
a total nine species of vultures
found in South Asia. Four of the
Gyps vulture species are only
found in Asia. These are Oriental
White-backed Vulture (Gyps
benegalensis), Long-billed
vulture (Gyps indicus),
Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris)
and Himalayan Griffon Vulture
(Gyps himalayensis). Eurasian
Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus)
breeds in Eurasia but migrates
to Africa and South Asia. The
geographic range of these vultures
overlap (Pain et al 2003).
The Oriental
White-backed Vulture (Gyps
benegalensis) was once described
as the commonest species of vulture
found in the Indian sub-continent
(Gilbert et al 2002). It was quoted
as the most widely distributed
species in Pakistan (Roberts 1991),
occurring in provinces of Punjab,
Sindh and North West Fortier Province
(NWFP).
Studies conducted
between 2000 and 2001 at two sites
in the Punjab province of Pakistan
also showed high mortality rates
11.4% and 18.6%. The necropsy
of dead vultures showed that 80%
of adults, 63% of sub-adults,
19% of juveniles and 13% of nestlings
had visceral gout (Gilbert et
al 2002) and this finding of consistent
with the earlier reports from
India (The Peregrine Fund 2000).
The rate of decline in Pakistan
was observed to be much higher
than the conspecifics in India
(The Peregrine Fund 2000). The
trend of population decline was
also obvious in other species
of vultures; Long-billed vulture
(Gyps indicus) and Slender-billed
Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris), with
status changed from ‘vulnerable’
to ‘critically endangered’
(The BirdLife International 2001).
Studies across
16 sites in Pakistan between 2000
and 2003 correlated visceral gout
and renal failure with the presence
of the residues of drug Diclonenac.
The study conducted in controlled
conditions affirmed these data
gathered from the field (Oaks
et al 2004). Diclofenac is a non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)
which is commonly used in livestock
in the Indian-subcontinent for
the treatment of lameness, fever
etc. It is cheap and widely available
(Risebrough 2004).
Some rough
estimates based on the rapid decline
suggest that the population of
oriental white-backed vultures
might go extinct in as little
as five years. South Asian countries
have been really concerned about
this rapid population decline
and the involvement of international
organisations has put immense
pressure on the governments to
urgently address this issue. A
summit meeting entitled ‘A
new environmental threat posed
by the drug diclofenac’
was arranged in Kathmundu, Nepal.
This summit brought together different
organisations both from regional
and international level that had
been involved in the vulture conservation
work such as WWF – Pakistan,
Bird Conservation Nepal, BirdLife
International, Bombay Natural
History Society, Ornithological
Society of Pakistan, Royal Society
for Protection of Birds, The Peregrine
Fund, Zoological Society of London
also involving government representatives.
The main objective of this summit
is to come to a mutual agreement
to deal with the vulture crisis.
All parties agreed to a manifesto
that suggests obtaining, holding
and possibly breeding three Gyps
species of vultures in captivity
as a safety measure, until the
threat of Diclofenac is removed
from the environment.
