Manifesto on Diclofenac and Vulture Conservation

Goutam Narayan/BNHS This photograph was taken in India during the 1980s. Today the White-rumped Vulture is facing extinction Zoom In

• Three species of Gyps vultures (G. bengalensis, G. tenuirostris, G. indicus) have declined at an alarming rate across India, Pakistan and Nepal in the last decade. In survey areas numbers have declined by more than 95% of former levels. Declines are well documented from survey data published in the peer-reviewed literature. In 2000, G. bengalensis and G. indicus (recently split into G. indicus and G. tenuirostris) were listed by IUCN as Critically Endangered, which is their highest category of endangerment and indicates that there is a high risk that they will become extinct in the near future. Current evidence suggests that populations of these species continue to fall very rapidly.
• Recent scientific evidence indicates that diclofenac (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) is a major cause of the observed vulture declines.
• Exposure of vultures to diclofenac arises through its veterinary use to treat domestic livestock. Experiments show that vultures are highly susceptible to diclofenac and are killed by feeding on the carcass of an animal soon after it has been treated with the normal veterinary dose.
• Modelling shows that only a very small proportion of livestock carcasses need to contain a level of diclofenac lethal to vultures to result in vulture population declines at the observed rates.
• Whilst other factors may influence Gyps populations, there is currently no conclusive evidence that any other cause is involved. We believe that recovery from the declines will be possible only if exposure of wild vultures to diclofenac is prevented.
• Evidence suggests that extinction of the three Gyps vulture species is imminent. Current captive populations are not viable, so immediate action is needed to obtain, hold, and possibly breed, these species in captivity, until sources of diclofenac exposure have been effectively removed from the vultures’ environment. It is possible that wild stocks of some of the threatened vulture species will be insufficient for the establishment of a viable captive population if this recommendation is not acted upon in 2004.
• Vultures are keystone species and their declines are having adverse effects upon other wildlife, domestic animals and humans. In particular, there is a risk of increases in diseases that threaten human life and welfare.
• Halting and reversing the vulture declines is one of the most urgent conservation priorities worldwide. Resolution of this problem requires considerable commitment by governments and the pharmaceutical industry.
• We call upon governments of all Gyps vulture range states in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and manufacturers of diclofenac, to ban the use of this drug for veterinary medicine, throughout the range or former range of Gyps vultures. The need for this action is especially urgent in the main range states of the three currently threatened species, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
• Very small relict and declining populations of G. bengalensis and G. indicus exist in Southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia, and are thought not to be exposed to diclofenac. High priority should be given to improving the status of these populations.

This Manifesto has been agreed and endorsed by BirdLife International and the following organisations (Jan 2004):