AR-News: (India) vultures poisoned by cattle drug

[Mary Finelli]

VULTURAL PHENOMENON
Indian Vultures Near Extinction Due to Cattle Painkiller
Daily Grist, Jan. 29, 2004

Three vulture species in India are nearing extinction at an unprecedented 
rate due to a common painkiller used on cattle in the region.  The drug, 
diclofenac, is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory in the same class as 
ibuprofen.  It has been widely used on humans for decades; it was adopted 
for veterinary uses in India and Pakistan in the early 1990s.  Turns out it 
causes acute kidney failure in vultures, which feed on the (commonly 
unburied) flesh of dead cows. The vultures have been disappearing at a rate 
greater than that of the now-extinct passenger pigeon or dodo -- 99 percent 
are already gone -- marking the first clear-cut case of a major 
pharmaceutical leading directly to ecological damage.  Researchers and 
enviro groups plan to push for a ban on the drug.  The finding highlights 
just how hard it is for human beings not to kill stuff.

straight from the source:  The Independent, Steve Connor, 29 Jan 2004
http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=1944

straight from the source:  The New York Times, James Gorman, 29 Jan 2004
http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=1946

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