A Kettle of Vultures Spotted in India Brings Hope for Their Survival

Recently, nearly 250 endangered vultures were spotted living in the Amangarh Forest Range of the Bijnor District in India, leading many to believe that the vultures’ decline had made a positive turn around.

But what is it that caused the decline in vultures? A veterinary drug called diclofenac is a painkiller that has been used to treat sick cattle and once the cattle have passed away, vultures eating the contaminated flesh have gotten sick from diclofenac, dying within a month of ingestion. Since this discovery was made, a ban on the drug took place and a drug called meloxicam was named as a substitute painkiller.

Meloxicam, being much more expensive than diclofenac seemed an unreasonable choice to many to use, as diclofenac was available for human use in smaller doses and remained a cheaper option for veterinarians. Thus, tragically for vultures, the human use diclofenac was rerouted for veterinary use.

Because of this, the government has now once again restricted the amount of diclofenac that can be purchased and limited quantities from 30 ml to 3 ml vials.

Although the kettle of vultures spotted in the range were that of migratory Himalayan griffon vultures, and not one of the three other species which have been largely found to be in decline from diclofenac, there is hope that there will soon be large sightings of the other species now that the harmful drug has been further restricted.

We’re happy that the government has done something to continue the restriction on diclofenac, hopefully leading to a full ban on the drug!

Read more about the sighting here.

Read more about the success story of restricting the harmful veterinary drug diclofenac here.