Vultures in Nepal saved from brink of extinction

This video is about vultures in Nepal.

From BirdLife:

Local increase in vultures thanks to diclofenac campaign in Nepal

11-01-2008

The number of White-rumped Gyps bengalensis and Slender-billed Gyps tenuirostris Vulture nests recorded west of Narayani Chitwan National Park / Buffer Zone Area, Nawalparasi District, Nepal, has doubled in two years, as a result of measures taken to reduce and replace the use of a drug toxic to vultures.

In around a decade, global numbers of both species have declined by over 95 percent, (over 99 percent in the case of White-rumped Vulture), and both are now classified as Critically Endangered. The decline is due to the veterinary use of the Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) diclofenac, which causes renal failure in vultures that feed on the carcasses of treated cattle.

But a study of 11 of Nepal’s 75 administrative districts by Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN, BirdLife in Nepal) finds that the use of diclofenac has dropped by 90 percent since 2006, thanks to work by BCN and its partners, notably the Nepalese government (Department of Drug Administrative and Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation).

BCN is working collaboratively for a complete phasing out of diclofenac and other harmful NSAID drugs from the market. Support has come not only from conservation organisations such as RSPB (Birdlife in the UK), Zoological Society of London and WWF, but also from Nepal’s Department of Drug Administration, Department of Livestock Services, local veterinary and para-veterinary practitioners, local pharmacists, pharmaceuticals distributors associations and local communities.

Four New High Altitude RAMSAR Sites Created in Nepal: here.

Lammergeyer in Cazorla, Spain: here.

Unlicensed diclofenac still on sale in Tanzania: here.