Vulture Numbers Begin To Recover In Pakistan After Diclonefac Ban - Guardian [View all]

[hatrack]

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.

As a result, once-common Asian vultures are among the most endangered birds in the world, and the long-billed vulture is one of four Asian species listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. However a new study by the Peregrine Fund found that by 2008, two years after the ban, breeding populations of the long-billed vulture at study sites in Pakistan had increased by up to 52%.

EDIT

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