15/06/2018
Vulture
populations in South Asia have collapsed by over 95 per cent since the
mid-1990s. The primary cause of this catastrophic decline, and still an ongoing
threat, is the ingestion by vultures of livestock carcasses containing
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), principally diclofenac.
Although diclofenac was banned from veterinary use in Pakistan, India and Nepal
in 2006, other NSAIDs such as aceclofenac and ketoprofen still pose a major
threat to Critically Endangered vultures.
WWF-Pakistan
and the Hawk Conservancy Trust in the UK have been partners on the Pakistan
Vulture Restoration Project (PVRP) to conserve vultures in Pakistan for the
past 12 years. The project consists of a vulture breeding centre in Punjab
province and a community-led vulture safe zone in Sindh province, where some of
Pakistan's last remaining colonies of Critically Endangered White-rumped and Slender-billed
Vultures are found.
PVRP has
continued lobbying for the removal of veterinary drugs which are unsafe
for vultures. In a recent letter to the Department of Health for Sindh, the
Secretary was urged to restrict the distribution of ketoprofen and aceclofenac
in Sindh's Vulture Safe Zone. As a result, the Chief Drug Inspector of Sindh
ordered all regional and district drug inspectors to restrict the use of these
drugs.
Muhammad
Jamshed Iqbal at WWF-Pakistan said: "NSAIDs such as ketoprofen and
aceclofenac have proven to be fatal for Gyps vultures in clinical
trials and their restriction in the Sindh will contribute significantly in the
survival of the remaining populations of Gyps vultures in Pakistan."
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