Justification This species is classified as Critically Endangered because it has suffered an extremely rapid population decline as a result of feeding on carcasses of animals treated with the veterinary drug diclofenac.

Family/Sub-family Accipitridae

Species name author (Scopoli, 1786)

Taxonomic source(s) Rasmussen and Parry (2001)

Taxonomic note Gyps indicus (Sibley and Monroe, 1990, 1993) has been split into G. indicus and G. tenuirostris following Rasmussen and Parry (2001).

Identification 92 cm. Typical Gyps vulture. Robust, strong features giving eagle-like bearing. Perched adults have pale-yellowish bill and cere; pale eyerings; large white neck-ruff; and buff back and upperwing coverts. The stout blackish neck has pale down. Juveniles have dark bill with pale culmen; pinkish head and neck covered in pale down and dingy heavily streaked underparts. In flight thighs are heavily feathered and concolourous with the rest of the underparts. Similar spp. Told from the allopatric and distinctive Slender-billed Vulture G. tenuirostris by robust build, clean plumage, pale bill (in adults) and downy head and neck (juveniles).

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

45,000

decreasing

1,370,000 km²

No

Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria.

Ecology: It is found in cities, towns and villages near cultivated areas, and in open and wooded areas. This species feeds almost entirely on carrion, and often associates with White-rumped Vulture G. bengalensis when scavenging at rubbish dumps and slaughterhouses. It nests almost exclusively in small colonies on cliffs and ruins, although in one area, where cliffs are absent, it has been reported nesting in trees. Vultures also play a key role in the wider landscape as providers of ecosystem services, and were previously heavily relied upon to help dispose of animal and human remains in India.

Threats By mid-2000, Gyps vultures were being found dead and dying in Pakistan and throughout India, and major declines and local extirpations were being reported. The anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, used to treat domestic livestock, has been identified as the cause of mortality from renal failure resulting from visceral gout in the vast majority of examined vultures^6,7,8,10. Modelling has shown that to cause the observed rate of decline in the species just one in 760 livestock carcasses need contain diclofenac residues⁵. Despite awareness programmes to educate locals about the association between diclofenac and vulture mortality, a survey in Nepal indicated that the vast majority of people still do not link diclofenac use to a decline in vulture populations²¹, potentially leading to a slower uptake of meloxicam. A second veterinary drug in use in India, ketoprofen, has also recently been identified to be lethal to the species, and population modelling indicates it may be present in sufficient concentrations to also cause population declines²³. Other likely contributory factors are changes in human consumption and processing of dead livestock, avian malaria²², and poison and pesticide use, but these are probably of minor significance.

Conservation measures underway CITES Appendix II. It has been reported from many protected areas across its range. The Indian government has now passed a bill banning the manufacture of the veterinary drug diclofenac that has caused the rapid population decline across the Indian subcontinent; their aim was to phase out its use by late 2005^9,10, although its sale has not been banned and it is likely to remain in widespread use for several years. Similar laws banning import and manufacture of diclofenac are now in place in Nepal and Pakistan. A letter from the Drug Controller General of India in 2008 warned more than 70 drugs firms not to sell the veterinary form of diclofenac, and to mark human diclofenac containers 'not for veterinary use'¹⁷. Efforts to replace diclofenac with a suitable alternative are ongoing; drug companies have now developed meloxicam, an alternative to diclofenac, which has been tested on Gyps vultures with no ill-effects. The Report of the International South Asian Vulture Recovery Plan Workshop in 2004 gave a comprehensive list of recommendations including establishing a minimum of three captive breeding centres each capable of holding 25 pairs¹⁵ - ultimately at least 150 pairs of the three species should be held in captivity to ensure sufficient birds are available to re-establish wild colonies in the future¹⁸. Captive breeding efforts are ongoing and as of April 2008 there were 71 individuals in captivity at three conservation breeding centres in India²⁰.

Conservation measures proposed Identify the location and number of remaining individuals and identify action required to prevent extinction. Measure the frequency of diclofenac treated carcasses available to vultures. Support the ban on the veterinary use of diclofenac, and support species management or restoration, as needed. Initiate public awareness and public support programmes. Monitor remaining populations, in particular, survey southern India where it is hoped vulture populations may not have crashed to the same extent that they have in the rest of the Subcontinent. Support captive breeding efforts at a number of separate centres. Promote the immediate adoption of meloxicam as an alternative2 to diclofenac. Test other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to identify additional safe alternative drugs to diclofenac and also other toxic ones.

References 1. Collar et al. (2001). 2. Prakash et al. (2003). 3. A. A. Khan in litt. (2003). 4. Ellis (2004). 5. Green et al. (2004). 6. Oaks et al. (2004a). 7. Shultz et al. (2004). 8. Swan et al. (2005). 9. Swan et al. (2006). 10. Gilbert et al. (2006). 11. Oaks et al. (2004b). 12. Gautam and Baral (2003). 13. Islam (2005). 14. M. Gilbert in litt. (2004). 15. Bombay Natural History Society (2004). 16. V. Prakash in litt. (2007). 17. BirdLife International (2008). 18. Lindsay (2008). 19. Prakash et al. (2007). 20. Pain et al. (2008). 21. Paudel (2008). 22. Poharkar et al. (2009). 23. Naidoo et al. (2009).

Further web sources of information

Fully detailed species accounts from the Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book (BirdLife International 2001), together with new information collated since the publication of the Red Data Book

The Peregrine Fund - Asian Vulture Population Project

Text account compilers Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Rob Calvert (BirdLife International), Mike Crosby (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Contributors Richard Cuthbert (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), Martin Gilbert (Wildlife Conservation Society), Aleem Ahmed Khan (Ornithological Society of Pakistan), Vibhu Prakash (Bombay Natural History Society), R. Riseborough

IUCN Red List evaluators Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Rob Calvert (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet: Gyps indicus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 6/9/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

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