An amazing story out of India on the reason for the decline in the vulture population. The story examines the ripple effect on the decline in vultures. An excerpt:
In 1990 the Indian vulture population was estimated at between 20m and 40m, divided between three species. Now it is about 10,000, and falling by 50% a year. Indeed, one species, the slender-billed vulture, numbers a mere 400. The birds are victims of a drug called diclofenac. This is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory that was developed to treat people but adopted for cattle in the 1980s. Unfortunately, it causes kidney failure in vultures—and vultures eat a lot of dead cattle. Hence the establishment of the Bombay Natural History Society's vulture-breeding centre at Pinjore, in Haryana.
No comments:
Post a Comment