Vulture experts to Govt: Ensure all veterinary drugs are vulture-safe before issuing licence to release into the market

Recently held National Symposium on Vulture Conservation has proposed a call-to-action-statement to protect the vultures in the continent

Can a decline in bird population cause an increase in human death? Yes! It is very much possible and has happened. In a recent study, ‘’The Social Costs of Keystone Species Collapse: Evidence from The Decline of Vultures in India – Frank & Sudarshan- 2023’ has estimated that the loss of vultures in South Asia caused 500,000 additional human deaths between 2000 and 2005.

As we know vultures play a vital role of scavengers in the ecosystem. Without vultures, animal carcasses stay around for long periods on the soil, hence incubating a host of potentially deadly bacteria and so acting as reservoirs of disease. 

In the last week of September 2024, vulture experts gathered for a National Symposium on Vulture Conservation in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. A key outcome of the symposium is the ‘Call-To-Action Statement”’ proposed by Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction (SAVE). SAVE is a consortium of organisations with established expertise in vulture conservation.

“Despite decades of effort and a national ban on the veterinary use of diclofenac, India’s vultures remain at serious risk from toxic Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)”, the statement reads. 

The statement calls upon the government of India to introduce legislation for testing protocols which ensure that all the drugs under consideration for use in livestock be tested to ensure safety for vulture before licences are issued and drugs are released in the market for veterinary use.

“The ‘Call-To-Action Statement’ was endorsed by all participants present at the symposium. Further, the statement is submitted to the state forest department.”, said  Dr. Bakul Trivedi, President, Bird Conservation Society of Gujarat. 

Seven species of vultures found in Gujarat are White-rumped vulture, Long-billed vulture, Red-headed or king vulture, Egyptian vulture, Eurasian griffon, Himalayan griffon, Cenereous vulture. 

Why vulture-safety-testing of all veterinary drugs before licensing is crucial?

The banning of diclofenac for veterinary use in 2006 should have ended the dark chapter in the history of India’s vultures. However, vultures remain at risk from NSAID formulations that continue to be released by pharmaceutical companies and used by cattle owners today. 

It is entirely feasible that a new drug used at scale and combined with the many other threats facing vultures could complete the eradication of vultures from the continent.

“Independent testing undertaken by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in collaboration with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has shown that drugs such as aceclofenac, ketoprofen and nimesulide are toxic to vultures and this evidence proved essential in getting bans issued in 2023 for both aceclofenac and ketoprofen following a case at Delhi’s High Court. Nimesulide however remains legally available despite a recent recommendation by the Drugs Technical Advisory Board of India, and there are further drugs (notably flunixin) that have not yet been fully tested on vultures despite the evidence very strongly suggesting high toxicity to vultures, similar to diclofenac”, mentioned the statement. 

The statement strongly suggests that banning toxic formulations of drugs only after they have been released to market is cumbersome, costly, time consuming and fraught with risk both for vultures and for companies investing in the production and marketing of new veterinary drugs.

The symposium was organised by Bird Conservation Society of Gujarat. It witnessed 30 presentations on various subjects related to vulture conservation and was attended by more than 300 participants from India, Nepal and England. The call-to-action-statement proposed in the symposium also mentioned the state-level suggestions for the revival of a viable population of vultures in the wilds. The statement emphasised on the integrated approach involving advocacy, education, monitoring, research, conservation breeding, supplementary feeding and site protection.

The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest – Wildlife and Chief Wildlife Warden of Gujarat, Nityanand Srivastava inaugurated the symposium. Leading vulture conservationists from India, Nepal and UK presented the paper and shared insight for the vulture conservation.