Indian vulture  (Gyps indicus)

In common with other Gyps species, the Indian vulture has suffered serious declines since the late 1990s, losing as much as 95 percent of the population. The unnaturally high death toll was thought to be caused by a fatal virus, but testing has revealed that vultures are suffering from kidney failure following the consumption of cattle that had previously been treated with the anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac (2). In fact, the decline is a result of a lethal level of the drug in a small proportion of the ungulate carcasses available to vultures, but as vultures travel long distances to reach carrion, a considerable proportion of the population has been affected (7). The full extent of the decline of Gyps vulture species is already being felt by humans, as rotting carcasses remain untouched, posing a health hazard, as well as encouraging feral dog populations which carry rabies (8).

It is considered necessary to prevent exposure of vultures to livestock carcasses that have been contaminated with diclofenac, and to find an alternative replacement drug (7). Government commitment to the control of the use of the drug is crucial, but until it has been entirely removed from the environment, a collaboration of bird protection organisations plan to take all vultures into captivity for the next 20 to 30 years to avoid further deaths, which would further reduce the chance of a successful recovery of this already rare species (8).