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Letters to the Editor
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Wildlife
Drug implicated in mass poisoning of wildlife
From Mr M. H. Espley, MRPharmS
I read with interest a report in BBC Wildlife October 2003, pp18–19,
and also August 2004, p22, that diclofenac has been identified as the
cause of a dramatic decline in Asian vultures over the past 10 years
in the Indian subcontinent.
Diclofenac is widely used in the treatment of domestic livestock, the
vultures’ primary source of food. It is the first time that a pharmaceutical
drug has been implicated in mass poisoning of wildlife over an entire
subcontinent. This has raised fears that the vulture population of South
Asia is at risk of extinction.
Studies in India’s Keoladeo National Park during the late 1990s
showed dramatic declines in breeding populations with alarming numbers
of dead vultures. Regional population declines of more than 90 per cent
were reported across India prompting the International Union for Conservation
of Nature to list three vulture species as “critically endangered”.
Conservationists are now calling for prompt action to improve the scrutiny
of the worldwide use of pharmaceuticals in the environment. In Pakistan,
diclofenac is readily available without a prescription and costs less
than 50p per 50ml bottle.
At a Wildlife Disease Association conference at Saskatoon, Canada, concerns
were raised that other scavengers, for example, feral dogs, will fill
any niche vacated by vultures and lead to an increase in rabies. A rise
in anthrax is another, more contentious fear. Vultures typically consume
a carcass soon after death has occurred and before anthrax can develop
into a resistant form.
Malcolm H. Espley
Chester
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