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Partial recovery of Critically Endangered Gyps vulture populations in Nepal

Partial recovery of Critically Endangered Gyps vulture populations in Nepal SummaryPopulations of Critically Endangered White-rumped Gyps bengalensis and Slender-billed G. tenuirostris Vultures in Nepal declined rapidly during the 2000s, almost certainly because of the effects of the use in livestock of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, which is nephrotoxic to Gyps vultures. In 2006, veterinary use of diclofenac was banned in Nepal and this was followed by the gradual implementation, over most of the geographical range of the two vulture species in Nepal, of a Vulture Safe Zone (VSZ) programme to advocate vulture conservation, raise awareness about diclofenac, provide vultures with NSAID-free food and encourage the veterinary use in livestock of a vulture-safe alternative NSAID (meloxicam). We report the results of long-term monitoring of vulture populations in Nepal before and after this programme was implemented, by means of road transects. Piecewise regression analysis of the count data indicated that a rapid decline of the White-rumped Vulture population from 2002 up to about 2013 gave way to a partial recovery between about 2013 and 2018. More limited data for the Slender-billed Vulture indicated that a rapid decline also gave way to partial recovery from about 2012 onwards. The rates at which populations were increasing in the 2010s exceeded the upper end of the range of increase rates expected in a closed population under optimal conditions. The possibility that immigration from India is contributing to the changes cannot be excluded. We present evidence from open and undercover pharmacy surveys that the VSZ programme had apparently become effective in reducing the availability of diclofenac in a large part of the range of these species in Nepal by about 2011. Hence, community-based advocacy and awareness-raising actions, and possibly also provisioning of safe food, may have made an important contribution to vulture conservation by augmenting the effects of changes in the regulation of toxic veterinary drugs. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Bird Conservation International Cambridge University Press

Partial recovery of Critically Endangered Gyps vulture populations in Nepal

Bird Conservation International , Volume 30 (1): 16 – May 24, 2019
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Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Copyright
Copyright © BirdLife International 2019 
ISSN
0959-2709
eISSN
1474-0001
DOI
10.1017/S0959270919000169
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

SummaryPopulations of Critically Endangered White-rumped Gyps bengalensis and Slender-billed G. tenuirostris Vultures in Nepal declined rapidly during the 2000s, almost certainly because of the effects of the use in livestock of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, which is nephrotoxic to Gyps vultures. In 2006, veterinary use of diclofenac was banned in Nepal and this was followed by the gradual implementation, over most of the geographical range of the two vulture species in Nepal, of a Vulture Safe Zone (VSZ) programme to advocate vulture conservation, raise awareness about diclofenac, provide vultures with NSAID-free food and encourage the veterinary use in livestock of a vulture-safe alternative NSAID (meloxicam). We report the results of long-term monitoring of vulture populations in Nepal before and after this programme was implemented, by means of road transects. Piecewise regression analysis of the count data indicated that a rapid decline of the White-rumped Vulture population from 2002 up to about 2013 gave way to a partial recovery between about 2013 and 2018. More limited data for the Slender-billed Vulture indicated that a rapid decline also gave way to partial recovery from about 2012 onwards. The rates at which populations were increasing in the 2010s exceeded the upper end of the range of increase rates expected in a closed population under optimal conditions. The possibility that immigration from India is contributing to the changes cannot be excluded. We present evidence from open and undercover pharmacy surveys that the VSZ programme had apparently become effective in reducing the availability of diclofenac in a large part of the range of these species in Nepal by about 2011. Hence, community-based advocacy and awareness-raising actions, and possibly also provisioning of safe food, may have made an important contribution to vulture conservation by augmenting the effects of changes in the regulation of toxic veterinary drugs.

Journal

Bird Conservation International – Cambridge University Press

Published: May 24, 2019

References

  • The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22695194A118307773
  • Population trends of Critically Endangered Gyps vultures in the lowlands of Nepal
  • Assessing the ongoing threat from veterinary non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to critically endangered Gyps vultures in India
  • Avian scavengers and the threat from veterinary pharmaceuticals
  • Continuing mortality of vultures in India associated with illegal veterinary use of diclofenac and a potential threat from nimesulide
  • Matrix population models applied to viability analysis and conservation: theory and practice using the ULM software
  • Breeding and mortality of Oriental White-backed Vulture Gyps bengalensis in Punjab Province, Pakistan
  • Vulture restaurants and their role in reducing diclofenac exposure in Asian vultures
  • Diclofenac poisoning as a cause of vulture population declines across the Indian subcontinent
  • Collapse of Asian vulture populations: risk of mortality from residues of the veterinary drug diclofenac in carcasses of treated cattle
  • Rate of decline of the Oriental White-Backed Vulture population in India estimated from a survey of diclofenac residues in carcasses of ungulates
  • Population, breeding and threats to the White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis in Bangladesh
  • Using demographic invariants to detect overharvested bird populations from incomplete data
  • Vulture Safe Zones to save Gyps Vultures in South Asia
  • Toxicity of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to Gyps vultures: a new threat from ketoprofen
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  • Recent changes in populations of Critically Endangered Gyps vultures in India
  • Vulture conservation: the case for urgent action
  • Toxicity of diclofenac to Gyps vultures
  • Removing the threat of diclofenac to Critically Endangered Asian vultures
  • Safety of meloxicam to critically endangered Gyps vultures and other scavenging birds