Download Vultures, Veterinary Drugs and Human Health: The Unexpected Nexus

Vultures, Veterinary Drugs and Human
Health: The Unexpected Nexus
Dr Scott Perkin
Head
IUCN Biodiversity
Conservation Programme, Asia
INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE
The Problem
• Over the last two decades, South Asia has witnessed the sudden
and dramatic decline of three vulture species:
– the white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis);
– the Indian vulture (Gyps indicus); and
– the slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris).
• Once numbering in the tens of millions, the combined population
of these three species has now been reduced by 99 per cent.
• All three species are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN
Red List and face extinction in the wild.
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The Cause
• The cause of this decline was initially a mystery. Many hypotheses
were put forward, including: viruses; pesticides; and the loss of
habitat.
• It wasn’t until 2003 that research in Pakistan proved conclusively
that the cause is diclofenac - a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drug which had come into widespread use to treat livestock.
• Diclofenac is ingested by vultures when they consume livestock
carcasses. Even small amounts of the drug lead to renal failure
and death in vultures.
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The Impacts
• The loss of vultures has led to the loss of a critically important
ecosystem service.
• Animal carcasses which were once consumed by vultures are now
being left to rot. In India alone, it is estimated that vultures used to
dispose of some 10 million tonnes of carrion per year.
• This is leading to an enormous waste disposal problem and to a
growing range of health concerns: an increase in the numbers of
feral dogs, a rise in the number of dog attacks on humans, and an
increased risk of rabies, TB and anthrax.
• To give just one example of the scale of the problem: in India, the
feral dog population rose from 17-18 million in the 1980s to over 29
million in 2003.
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Impacts and Economic Costs
• The expenditure on medical costs in India attributable to the
consequences of the decline in vulture populations has been
estimated at Rs 71-78 billion per annum (Markandya et al, 2008).
Additional Impacts:
• Groundwater contamination;
• Loss of income for farmers, whose fields can become unusable for
up to three weeks at a time as a result of rotting carcasses;
• The loss of vultures has also had severe social impacts on some
communities, such as the Parsis, who traditionally offered their
dead to the vultures in “Towers of Silence”.
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The Response
• India, Nepal and Pakistan banned the manufacturing and
importation of diclofenac for veterinary use in 2006. Bangladesh
imposed a manufacturing ban in 2010.
• Captive breeding centres have been started in several countries
and are achieving success, albeit on a small scale.
• “Vulture Safe Zones” are being established. These are large areas
(100 km radius) in which intensive efforts are made to remove
diclofenac from the environment.
• A South Asia declaration on vultures was adopted by Bangladesh,
India, Nepal and Pakistan in 2012, calling for conservation efforts
to be scaled up and for enhanced regional collaboration.
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The South Asia Vulture Recovery Project
• In response to the Regional Declaration, IUCN and its partners are
currently developing a proposal to the Global Environment Fund for
a South Asia Regional Vulture Recovery Project.
• The project will aim to:
1) Strengthen policy and legal frameworks
2) Implement targeted education and awareness activities
3) Scale-up captive breeding efforts
4) Strengthen in situ conservation and - when conditions are right carry out reintroductions to the wild.
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Project Component 1: Policy and Regulatory
Frameworks
• Help strengthen government efforts to enforce the existing ban on
veterinary diclofenac;
• Address legal loopholes, eg, the continued sale of multi-vial
diclofenac for human use which then “leaks” into the livestock
sector;
• Promote and adopt safe alternatives to diclofenac, such as
meloxicam ;
• Promote safety-testing of new NSAIDs to determine their toxicity to
vultures before allowing their sale;
• Harmonize national policies, legislation and drug regimes, so that
there is a more consistent framework for vulture conservation and
recovery across the region.
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Current Status
• A Regional Steering Committee with representatives from
Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan has been fully
operationalized and has met three times;
• National Vulture Recovery Committees are being established in
each country, with representatives from both government and civil
society;
• Regional and national vulture recovery action plans are being
prepared;
• The proposal to GEF is on track for submission in 2014;
• There are also plans to carry out an economic valuation of the
services provided by vultures (a “TEEB for Vultures” study) in
collaboration with UNEP.
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Some Final Thoughts…
• The ban on diclofenac for veterinary use seems to be working.
Sampling in the field has shown that the proportion of cattle
carcasses containing diclofenac has been reduced significantly.
Vulture numbers also appear to be stabilizing.
• The case study highlights many different issues, including:
– The dependence of human wellbeing on biodiversity and healthy
ecosystems;
– The difficulty of predicting the impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems
(Who would have thought that a painkiller would have such
devastating effects?);
– The speed at which changes in ecological systems can occur;
– The key role of legislation in the conservation effort and the
importance of being able to take swift action;
– The key role of science to inform decision making.
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Thank you for listening!
For more information, please contact:
Scott Perkin
Head, IUCN Biodiversity Conservation Programme, Asia
[email protected]
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