Vanishing vultures
White-rumped Vulture- Nobiganj © Samiul Mohsanin
WHEN I was a kid I used to see hundreds of vultures in my backyard but now a glimpse of these charismatic creatures has become extremely rare”, utters Abdul Mia, the owner of a vulture turf in the plains of Nobiganj. In May, 2008 I along with few birdwatchers visited Aushkandi in Nobiganj to raise conservation awareness amongst the locals to protect an existing White-rumped Vulture breeding colony. During our visit we found a few vulture carcasses near the colony. "The decline of the Asian vultures has been quicker than any other wild birds, including the dodo” Says Chris Bowden of RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). Populations of three species of vultures have declined by more than 95 per cent in the last 10 years across the Indian subcontinent. In the wake of this vulture population crash, the White-rumped Vulture, Long-billed Vulture and Slender-billed Vulture were reclassified as Critically Endangered, placing them amongst the species most threatened with global extinction . The White-rumped Vulture was considered fairly common and widely distributed in all districts of Bangladesh, especially in the plains and woodlands. But due to the alarming rate of decrease in the population, now this bird is a rarity. Currently there are only a few breeding colonies known to occur in Bangladesh -- one in Maulvi Bazar near Hakaluki Haor where a group of 1315 have been recorded along with a group of 15-20 in Nobigonj, Habigonj, and a smaller group of 5-10 in Mymensingh. Vultures have been spotted regularly in the Sundarbans near Mongla port but no breeding colony was recorded from that part. Vultures have also disappeared from many parts of their former ranges due to food shortages and loss of habitat. However, the recent disappearance is attributed to the veterinary use of the pharmaceutical diclofenac, a widely used painkiller tablet and anti-inflammatory drug administered to livestock and humans. Research on vulture population decline in Pakistan by the Peregrine Fund, who joined forces with Washington State University and the Ornithological Society of Pakistan (OSP), has shown that the diclofenac can cause mortality in vultures. According to BirdLife International, in 2006, the governments of India, Pakistan and Nepal introduced a ban on the manufacture of diclofenac and pharmaceutical firms are now encouraged to promote an alternative drug, meloxicam, which is proven to be safe for vultures. The manufacturing ban has had some success in reducing the drug's prevalence - for example the use of diclofenac has dropped by 90 percent in parts of Nepal (Birdlife International 2008). Unfortunately, there is still no ban on the sale or use of the drug and the overall trend across South Asia remains one of continuing vulture decline. Widespread use of veterinary diclofenac in the current vulture range is expected but so far there has been no attempt to quantify the extent of its use, nor is there any evidence of the actual magnitude of vulture exposure to diclofenac in Bangladesh. Abdul Mia added, “Few days back I saw a vulture dying right in front of my eyes; the neck of the vulture was dropping constantly, as if someone was pulling its neck downward and it suddenly fell from the tree top and suffered to its death”. I was curious and his description of the vulture's death reminded me of something horrifying! If a vulture feeds on a carcass which still contains diclofenac then it causes kidney failure of the vulture and in most of the cases they die within 24-48 hours. The vulture shows an unusual behaviour before death due to this trend that is “Neck Dropping”. According to the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India the phenomenon of “Neck Drooping”, though reported in Eurasian vultures, had never been observed in our region before the period of decline. It was first observed in Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, India, where birds would exhibit this trend for protracted period of several weeks before collapsing and falling out of trees, at the point of, or just prior to, death. As I was well aware of the perpetrator diclofenac, I instantly interviewed the locals on the neighbouring usage of diclofenac, which turned out to be positive. According to them, they regularly use the drug to cure their cattle. For farther investigation I visited a local pharmacy and found the tablet A-FENAC VET (eacn bolus contains Diclofenac Sodium BP 100 mg). If we put all these happenings together then the conclusion would be that the death of the those vultures were primarily due to diclofenac, because the locals treated their cattle with the deadly drug and when those cattle died the vulture merely fed on those carcasses which led them to death. However, without any adequate scientific research we cannot take the statement as absolute conclusion. Hence, a proper scientific investigation is imperative to get a clear idea on vulture and diclofenac relationship in our country to save the last legs of these vanishing vultures.
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