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Social Costs of Vulture Decline

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August 09, 2024

Why in news?

Recent study reveals that there is a strong link between Vulture decline in India and its impact on human health crisis.

What is the status and role of vultures in India?

  • Distribution – It is now extinct in South East Asia with current populations existing mostly in central and peninsular India, south of the Gangetic plains.
  • It is also found in southwest Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
  • Types – There are nine species of vultures, five belong to the genus Gyps and the rest four are monotypic.
    • Oriental White-backed Vulture - G.bengalensis
    • The Long-billed Vulture  - G.indicus
    • Slender-billed Vulture - G.tenuirostris
    • The Himalayan Vulture  – G.himalayensis
    • The Eurasian Griffon  – G.fulvus
    • Egyptian Vulture - Neophron percnopterus
    • Red-headed Vulture - Sarcogyps calvus
    • Cinereous Vulture - Aegypius monachus
    • Bearded Vulture (Lammergeier) - Gypaetus barbatus
  • Role in Ecosystem – They feed on carrion, the remains of dead animals, and act as the ‘rubbish collectors’ of the natural world.
  • It help eliminating potentially harmful bacteria from the environment, potentially limiting the spread of diseases such as anthrax and rabies.
  • Role in culture – The Dakhma or ‘Towers of Silence’ is a unique and environmentally conscientious method of laying the dead to rest practised by the Parsi community.
  • The vultures performs the pivotal role of stripping away the flesh from the bones through their scavenging process.

Why vulture population is declining in India?

  • Decline – In the mid-1990s, India’s vulture population reached near extinction
    • White-rumped Vulture, Indian Vulture, and Red-headed Vulture declined by 98%, 95%, and 91% respectively.
  • India’s remaining vulture populations are largely confined to protected areas and feed primarily on wildlife.
  • Veterinary drugs – It is primarily due to the widespread use of diclofenac in livestocks.
  • Vultures consuming the carcasses of treated livestock suffered fatal kidney failure.

Diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to treat sick cattle.

  • Alternatives to diclofenac such as aceclofenac, ketoprofen, and nimesulide also affected vultures.
  • Usage of NSAIDs - Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the most prescribed medications for treating conditions such as arthritis.
  • Diclofenac and aceclofenac, continue to be produced for human use.
  • Loss of Habitat – It is due to urbanization, quarrying and mining.
  • Dwindling availability of food - Carcasses increasingly being buried and burned and also due to competition from feral dogs continue to pose risks.
  • Poisoning - Deliberate poisoning of carcasses, intended to kill dogs and other carnivores, also kills vultures.

What are social and economic impacts of decline in vulture population?

  • Dramatic decline over vulture population over the past two decades has had unforeseen consequences for both wildlife and human health.
  • Sanitation crisis - Rotting carcasses left unattended, potentially contaminates and pollutes soil, air and water sources.
  • It allows for increased feeding and breeding of stray dogs.
  • Proliferation of harmful microbes – The absence of vultures allowed bacteria and pathogens to proliferate.
  • Disease in humans – Growth of harmful microbes led to a surge in human diseases and deaths.
    • Diseases such as rabies got exacerbated by the rise in stray dog populations.
  • Treatment increases the health expenditure of individuals and the government.
  • Deaths in humans - 4% increase in death rates in areas where vultures once thrived and now absent.
    • It caused approximately 100,000 additional human deaths annually between 2000 and 2005.
  • Economic Loss - The economic impact of these additional deaths is estimated at over $69 billion per year in mortality damages.

              SocialCostsofVultureDecline

  • Impact on tanning industry - India’s tanning industry once relied on quick removal of carrion by vultures.
  • In their absence, shifting to burying or burning cattle reduced the supply of cattle skin for leather manufacturing.
  • Cultural Impact – It affects the tradition of Dhakma of the Parsi whereby the burial rituals require vultures to consume the body.

Conservation measures by India

  • Asia's first vulture re-introduction program in 2016 by Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore.
  • Vulture Action Plan 2020-25 by Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change.
  • SAVE (Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction) program by Consortium of regional and international organizations.
  • Diclofenac is banned in veterinary medicine since 2008 while Aceclofenac and ketoprofen were banned for animal us in 2023.

What lies ahead?

  • Creating awareness among people about the importance of vulture.
  • Adopting One Health approach for holistic coverage of human, animal and environmental health.
  • Preventing misuse of veterinary & NSAIDs by ensuring their sale only on prescription.
  • Scientific manner of disposal of livestock carcasses animals that died during treatment.
  • Finding nontoxic alternatives for animal steroids.
  • In- Situ conservation of vulture for the captive breeding.
  • Continued action is necessary to ensure the survival and recovery of these vital scavengers.

References

  1. Indian Express | Vulture decline, a human health crisis
  2. India Today | Declining vulture population
  3. BFI.UChicago.EDU| Social Costs of Keystone Species Collapse
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