Diclofenac poisoning is widespread in declining vulture populations across the Indian subcontinent.
Recent declines in the populations of three species of vultures in the Indian subcontinent are among the most rapid ever recorded in any bird species. Evidence from a previous study of one of these species, Gyps bengalensis, in the Punjab province of Pakistan, strongly implicates mortality caused by ingestion of residues of the veterinary non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac as the major cause of the decline. We show that a high proportion of Gyps bengalensis and G. indicus found dead or dying in a much larger area of India and Nepal also have residues of diclofenac and visceral gout, a post-mortem finding that is strongly associated with diclofenac contamination in both species. Hence, veterinary use of diclofenac is likely to have been the major cause of the rapid vulture population declines across the subcontinent.
Shultz
Susanne
S
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy SG19 2DL, UK.
Baral
Hem Sagar
HS
Charman
Sheonaidh
S
Cunningham
Andrew A
AA
Das
Devojit
D
Ghalsasi
G R
GR
Goudar
Mallikarjun S
MS
Green
Rhys E
RE
Jones
Ainsley
A
Nighot
Prashant
P
Pain
Deborah J
DJ
Prakash
Vibhu
V
D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D004008:Diclofenac / Q000032:analysis / Q000506:poisoning*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D046093:Falconiformes; D006073:Gout / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D011041:Poisoning / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011157:Population Dynamics
D004008:Diclofenac