Another veterinary painkiller, nimesulide, has been causing the death of vultures in India, according to the findings of a study published in an international scientific journal, Environmental Science and Pollution Research (June 7, 2021). Examining four white-rumped vultures found dead in 2019, the findings showed that they were exposed to nimesulide through the carcasses of cattle they ate, reported online newsmagazine, Scroll on July 14.
Nimesulide joins diclofenac, aceclofenac and ketoprofen as the primary reasons for wiping out swathes of vulture populations in the country since the 1990s. "While diclofenac is banned for veterinary use, a proposal to ban the other two drugs is under consideration by the Indian government,” stated Scroll, quoting vulture scientist and deputy director at Bombay Natural History Society, Vibhu Prakash. The study recommends nimesulide should be banned by the Indian government to conserve vultures in the subcontinent.
White rumped vultures
Photo: Wikipedia
Authored by researchers from the Division of Ecotoxicology, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History and Jivdaya Charitable Trust, this research is part of a government-funded project titled "National centre for surveillance and monitoring of the impact of environmental contaminants on ecosystem components with a special focus on birds in India,” stated Scroll.
White-rumped vultures have been categorized as "critically endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list since 2000. The researchers’ report stated that "the uric acid deposition observed in the viscera in all the four vultures during postmortem and elevated levels of nimesulide residues in the organs and gut content was responsible for the mortality.”
Despite the ban in 2006, Scroll noted that "diclofenac still accounts for 10% to 46% of all painkillers on sale for livestock treatment in India, suggesting weak enforcement of existing regulations… (Now) nimesulide, poses another daunting task for policymakers and government functionaries.”
The population of vultures in India was about 40 million in the 1980s (belonging to three species — white-backed vulture, long-billed vulture and slender-billed vulture). "As of 2017, it is down to 19,000,” notes the article with the latest national vulture survey being postponed twice, in March 2020 and in March 2021, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.