Speaking at a national workshop on ´effects of diclofenac on vultures and its current issues in Nepal´, vulture conservation officer at BCN Khadananda Poudel said that after the ban on the drug for veterinary purpose, many farmers began to buy diclofenac drug prepared for human use. [break]
“Therefore, despite the ban, vultures could not be fully protected from the harmful drug,” he said. The workshop was jointly organized by Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) and Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Nepal in the capital on Thursday.
During a BCN survey in 2011, moderate use of human diclofenac was detected throughout the birds´ nesting colony that stretches from Nawalparasi to Kanchanpur boarder side, Poudel informed.
“Animals normally need 30 mg of diclofenac, while humans need only 3 mg for the drug to show effect. We found that people were illegally using the drug for animals,” he said, adding that scientific studies carried out since 2002 show a decline of 91 percent in the vulture population in Nepal.
Researchers have also identified an alternative drug, meloxicam, which is effective for treating cattle but does not harm the bird. However, due to its higher cost, people prefer to use diclofenac, according to former BCN executive officer Hum Gurung. “People still use diclofenac instead of meoxicam due to the cost factor,” he said.
According to World Wildlife Fund, the white backed vulture, the slender billed vulture and the long billed vulture have declined by a staggering 99.9% in the last 15 years. This has been attributed to the use of anti-inflammatory diclofenac drug administered to sick and dying livestock across Asia until 2006.
Vultures die of kidney and lungs failure after they consume animal carcass contaminated with diclofenac.
Chief Executive Officer of BCN Sushila Nepali stressed that total ban on the drug is essential to prevent the rapid decline in vulture population. “Vultures have immense ecological importance and their conservation demands due attention. Stopping the illegal use of the drug needs sincere efforts from various departments, including the department of drug administration,” she said.
Meanwhile, senior ornithologist Dr Hem Sagar Baral added that white rumped vultures are the smallest of the Gyps Vultures and weigh around 4.75 kg and a healthy vulture lives for more than 50 years.
“There were some 500,000 vultures in Nepal 15 years ago. But vulture population has declined by 90 per cent now. Of the eight species of vultures found in Nepal, four have been listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered birds.”
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