Researchers find that vultures in India are still in danger from the NSAID diclofenac

IN the 1990s and 2000s, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug called diclofenac was widely used in veterinary palliative care for cattle. An undercover investigation led by a group of researchers from many Indian and international environmental organisations and universities—including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Centre for Conservation Science, Sandy, England; the Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai; Bird Conservation Nepal, Kathmandu; IUCN Bangladesh Country Office, Dhaka; and the Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, England—found that cattle carcasses across India continued to have high levels of diclofenac and the same was found in dead vultures. The authors wrote: “In this study, we undertook covert surveys of pharmacies selling veterinary drugs in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh to determine which NSAIDs are being sold for use in cattle.” Dr John Mallord, senior conservation scientist for the RSPB and the lead author of the study, said: “As the sale of diclofenac for veterinary use is illegal, if we were open about the reasons for the survey, and that we were vulture conservationists, pharmacists would be unlikely to offer us diclofenac. In the five Indian States surveyed in the final year, 2017, diclofenac was still being offered by 10 to 46 per cent of pharmacists.” The report pointed out that a 2011 study “surveyed pharmacies selling veterinary drugs in India and found that many were stocking and selling human formulations of diclofenac for illegal use in cattle. There are a number of other NSAIDs in use and many have been found to be toxic to vultures.” Dr Vibhu Prakash, deputy director of the BNHS, said: “Although diclofenac, which is the most toxic drug to vultures, has been the main focus of our advocacy work, our study recorded eleven different NSAIDs, of which five are already known to be toxic to vultures.