Vulture close to extinction because of cattle drugby Asmita Gaire | 20-03-2019 13:29 |
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 Vultures are on the verge of extinction because a banned drug is still being used illegally to treat suffering cattle. The endangered birds eat the remains of the drugged animals and suffer kidney failure and visceral gout, which is usually fatal. The drug was banned five years ago, but pharmacies continue to sell it under the counter, a study has revealed. More than 97 per cent of vultures have disappeared from India's skies in the past 15 years - the fastest decline ever recorded in a bird population anywhere in the world. Only about 10,000 still exist in the wild, down from tens of millions in the 1980s. The white-rumped vulture - once the most populous large bird of prey - is under particular threat, having declined by 99.9 per cent. The cause of their demise is a drug called diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory used by farmers and veterinarians to ease pain in cattle. |
