Toxicity of diclofenac to Gyps vultures.
Three endemic vulture species Gyps bengalensis, Gyps indicus and Gyps tenuirostris are critically endangered following dramatic declines in South Asia resulting from exposure to diclofenac, a veterinary drug present in the livestock carcasses that they scavenge. Diclofenac is widely used globally and could present a risk to Gyps species from other regions. In this study, we test the toxicity of diclofenac to a Eurasian (Gyps fulvus) and an African (Gyps africanus) species, neither of which is threatened. A dose of 0.8 mg kg(-1) of diclofenac was highly toxic to both species, indicating that they are at least as sensitive to diclofenac as G. bengalensis, for which we estimate an LD50 of 0.1-0.2 mg kg(-1). We suggest that diclofenac is likely to be toxic to all eight Gyps species, and that G. africanus, which is phylogenetically close to G. bengalensis, would be a suitable surrogate for the safety testing of alternative drugs to diclofenac.
Swan
Gerry E
GE
University of Pretoria, Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa.
Cuthbert
Richard
R
Quevedo
Miguel
M
Green
Rhys E
RE
Pain
Deborah J
DJ
Bartels
Paul
P
Cunningham
Andrew A
AA
Duncan
Neil
N
Meharg
Andrew A
AA
Oaks
J Lindsay
JL
Parry-Jones
Jemima
J
Shultz
Susanne
S
Taggart
Mark A
MA
Verdoorn
Gerhard
G
Wolter
Kerri
K
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D004008:Diclofenac / Q000633:toxicity*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D046093:Falconiformes; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000097:blood; D019155:Veterinary Drugs / Q000633:toxicity*
D019155:Veterinary Drugs; D004008:Diclofenac; D014527:Uric Acid; D000410:Alanine Transaminase