When the drug diclofenac was banned for veterinary use in India in 2006 because it proved fatal for the vulture population, the ban did slow down the mortality rate of the raptors. Ironically, it has now been found that the three non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) recommended as safe alternatives to the deadly diclofenac — aeclofenac, ketoprofen and nimusulide — are also killing the birds, notes the publication Down to Earth (DTE) of April 1-15, 2022, a copy of which was forwarded to Parsiana by Diana Ratnagar, chairwoman of Poona-based Beauty Without Cruelty, India. Vultures were the integral factor for disposal of the dead in the towers of silence.
The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has written a letter to the union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on March 14, 2022 urging it to ban the use of the NSAIDs, fearing that "use of these drugs will undo the center’s two decades of work to arrest the dwindling vulture population in the wild.” Vibhu Prakash, deputy director of BNHS feels that diclofenac, which is permitted only for human use, is even now used for cattle and that "such treatments are usually prescribed by quacks.”
DTE quotes Chris Bowden, co-chair, Vulture Specialist Group at the International Union for Conservation of Nature as stating, "Deaths caused by NSAIDs are invisible. Birds die two-three days after ingesting the medicine, making it difficult to establish a clear link.” Wildlife researcher Dau Lal Bohra, who is head of department, zoology, Seth Gyaniram Bansidhar Podar College in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district told DTE that "in the majority of cases, the postmortem report shows the deposition of white precipitate on the kidneys and heart of the vultures, indicating death by NSAIDs.”
India’s vulture population dwindled from 40,000 in 2003 to 18,645 in 2015, reveals the latest census conducted by Bird Life International, states DTE. According to Rinkita Gurav, manager, raptor conservation, World Wide Fund for Nature, India, eight species across the country face extinction today.
Though India is a signatory to the convention on Migratory Species’ Multi-species action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian Vultures, which "recognizes NSAIDs as a major threat to vultures in India,” not much of practical value has been done to stop misuse of the drugs. India’s vulture conservation action plan for 2020-2025 recommends a ban on the three drugs and urges the Drug Controller General of India to remove them from veterinary use as they are toxic for vultures, notes DTE.
Sherene Vakil