Veterinary Painkiller Nimesulide Killing Vultures in India, Study Finds 18/07/2021
White-rumped vultures at Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur, March 1991. Photo: Bernard Dupont/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
A veterinary pain killer drug, nimesulide, has been causing the death of vultures in India, finds a new study published in the latest edition of the international scientific journal,
Environmental Science and Pollution Research.
Diclofenac has long been established as the prime reason for wiping out 99 percent of the vulture population in India in the 90s. Later two more veterinary drugs – aceclofenac and ketoprofen – were found to be toxic for vultures. While diclofenac is banned, a proposal to ban the other two drugs is already under consideration by the Indian government, lead vulture scientist and deputy director at Bombay Natural History Society, Vibhu Prakash told Mongabay-India.
Now, another veterinary painkiller is accelerating extinction of vultures in India scroll.in - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from scroll.in Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In Nepal, 69 vultures, including endangered and near threatened species, die from eating poisoned dog carcasses
Some of the 69 dead vultures. Photo: BCN/ Dev Bahadur Rana
The site of the vultures death. Photo: BCN/ Dev Bahadur Rana
In a shocking and tragic incident, 69 vultures have died of inadvertent poisoning in Nepal on April 24. The deaths occurred in the farmlands of the terai where villagers had used poisoned bait to kill stray dogs. These carcasses were then eaten by vultures who succumbed to the poison.
As many as 35 white-rumped vultures, one slender-billed vulture (both critically endangered species), 31 Himalayan griffons and two cinereous vultures (classified as near threatened) succumbed to the poison. One Himalayan griffon is still alive and under treatment. All the birds were wild ones and not released birds from the nearby vulture release site.
Mass mortality of vultures in Nepal owing to poison bait
Sun, Apr 25 2021 11:46:58 AM
New Delhi, Apr 25 (IANS): In a significant blow to vulture conservation, a mass vulture mortality owing to the poison bait incident was reported in Nepal, severely impacting the population of the critically endangered species in the wild, ornithologists said on Sunday.
At least 69 vultures died in farmland of the terai last week, said SAVE (Saving Asia s Vulture from Extinction), a consortium of 24 partners.
Apparently local villagers illegally used poison to kill stray dogs, and these dog carcasses were then eaten by the vultures, killing them.
The incident was reported 50 km west from the main vulture release site in Nawalparasi district, prompted a quick response with officials from the Municipality, police, division forest, livestock and veterinary office, NTNC and Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) reaching the scene within hours of the alarm being raised.
Celebrating 10 years of saving Asia s vultures from extinction birdlife.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from birdlife.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.