Slender-billed Vulture
© Pranjal J. Saikia
Species of the Day: Slender-billed Vulture The Slender-billed Vulture, Gyps tenuirostris, is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Found in India, Bangladesh and parts of Southeast Asia, this once-common species has undergone a catastrophic decline in the last decade.
Geographical range
www.iucnredlist.org www.birdlife.org Help Save Species www.arkive.org
By the late 1990s, dead and dying vultures, of this and two other Gyps species, were being found across many areas of the subcontinent. It took five years of intensive research to determine that the cause of the decline was the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, which became available in India around 1994 as a veterinary drug for use on sick livestock. Various laws banning the manufacture and import of diclofenac are now in place, and a suitable alternative has been found and is being promoted, but stocks of diclofenac still exist. Slender-billed Vultures are also being bred in captivity, and vulture ‘restaurants’ are being used as ecotourism attractions, to raise awareness and provide supplementary feeding. The recovery of this species will also benefit humans, as vultures clear up rotting carcasses which may otherwise present a health hazard.
Species of the Day is sponsored by
The production of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is made possible through the IUCN Red List Partnership: IUCN (including the Species Survival Commission), BirdLife International, Conservation International, NatureServe and Zoological Society of London.
Species of the Day: Slender-billed Vulture The Slender-billed Vulture, Gyps tenuirostris, is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Found in India, Bangladesh and parts of Southeast Asia, this once-common species has undergone a catastrophic decline in the last decade.
Geographical range
www.iucnredlist.org www.birdlife.org Help Save Species www.arkive.org
By the late 1990s, dead and dying vultures, of this and two other Gyps species, were being found across many areas of the subcontinent. It took five years of intensive research to determine that the cause of the decline was the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, which became available in India around 1994 as a veterinary drug for use on sick livestock. Various laws banning the manufacture and import of diclofenac are now in place, and a suitable alternative has been found and is being promoted, but stocks of diclofenac still exist. Slender-billed Vultures are also being bred in captivity, and vulture ‘restaurants’ are being used as ecotourism attractions, to raise awareness and provide supplementary feeding. The recovery of this species will also benefit humans, as vultures clear up rotting carcasses which may otherwise present a health hazard.
Species of the Day is sponsored by
The production of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is made possible through the IUCN Red List Partnership: IUCN (including the Species Survival Commission), BirdLife International, Conservation International, NatureServe and Zoological Society of London.
