The Value of Vultures

As we celebrate International Vulture Awareness Day on Saturday 7th September, Jake Zarins and Mary Davies from the RSPB’s Asian Vulture Programme reflect on how two newly published scientific papers are providing a needed spotlight on the importance of Asia’s vultures to human health – and to the solution that will prevent a repetition of the disaster that nearly led to their extinction.

The fastest decline of any bird species in recorded history
India is well known as the most populous country on earth with 1.2 billion citizens. Less well known is the fact the country has the largest cattle herd in the world with over 500 million cattle. Even less well known - but directly connected - is that India also once had the world's biggest populations of vultures with millions of White-rumped, Indian and Slender-billed Vultures found across the country.

However, in the early 1990s an anti-inflammatory drug called diclofenac started to be widely used to treat cattle for a wide range of ailments. This drug proved to be toxic to the vultures that traditionally scavenged on livestock carcasses, and huge numbers of vultures subsequently died. South Asia’s vultures suffered the fastest decline of any bird species in recorded history almost leading to their extinction.

South Asia’s vultures suffered the fastest decline of any bird species in recorded history. © Paul Insua-Cao (rspb-images.com).

Devastating effects on the human population
Whilst clearly devastating from a conservation perspective, the loss of vultures and the sanitation services they provided in quickly removing carrion from the environment has also had devastating effects on the human population.

A newly released paper 'The Social Costs of Keystone Species Collapse: Evidence From The Decline of Vultures in India’ has estimated that the loss of vultures in South Asia caused 500,000 additional human deaths between 2000 and 2005.

Without vultures, cattle carcasses were left for long periods of time and therefore a whole host of potentially deadly bacteria and other causes of disease were left in the environment. Other scavengers such as rats and dogs also increased in numbers and these animals are not as efficient at cleaning up the environment. They also cause other public health problems such as bites and rabies. Feral dogs in particular have benefited from the food resources left by the demise of vultures and their populations have increased dramatically with over 150 million estimated in India. In 2023 alone, 4.7 million anti-rabies vaccines were administered in India.

Vultures provide an important sanitation service, quickly removing carrion from the environment. © Paul Insua-Cao (rspb-images.com).

Valuing vultures
So why is this paper so helpful? Quite simply because showing the shocking impact of Asia’s vulture declines on human lives as well as on the economy, can help quantify the value of the services that vultures provide to society – and this awareness can help us bring about the change needed to prevent disasters like this happening again. Asia’s vultures are still under threat and we must ensure no such catastrophe ever happens again.

Which brings us to the second paper which provides the scientific arguments needed to push for the ultimate ambition for vulture conservation in India!

In 2006 diclofenac was banned for veterinary use in India. Since then, two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been found to be vulture safe but several others known to be toxic have entered the market in Asia, which means the remnant surviving vulture populations remain under constant threat of being completely wiped out. This in turn requires our regional partners to spend significant time and resources continually pushing for further drug bans.

In the early 1990’s an anti-inflammatory drug called diclofenac started to be widely used to treat cattle for a wide range of ailments. This drug proved to be toxic to the vultures that traditionally scavenged on livestock carcasses, and huge numbers of vultures subsequently died. © Guy Shorrock (rspb-images.com).

Testing veterinary drugs for vulture toxicity
The obvious solution to this merry-go-round is to ensure all veterinary drugs are tested for vulture toxicity before they can be licensed and released onto the market.

A new study published earlier this year examined the existing regulatory processes for veterinary drugs in Europe and South Asia and found them to be ineffective at protecting vultures and other wildlife. A more consistent, streamlined and precautionary approach is urgently needed to stop dangerous drugs risking vultures again.

This can be illustrated by the ban in 2021 of a toxic drug, ketoprofen, in Bangladesh which is now disappearing from the market but is being immediately replaced by another toxic drug which has yet to be banned.

The need for change
This International Vulture Awareness Day we need to take stock. We know that vultures play a very important role in their environment. We know that they nearly disappeared altogether and we know why that happened. We know that trying to play catch up with this ongoing threat is never going to work.

Together with our partners we are highlighting the need for change. We must ensure this threat can be eliminated for good to ensure a better future for vultures and for the people that live alongside them.

The RSPB work with and support partners technically and financially across the region, such as with BNHS in India, and BCN in Nepal, to prioritise and advance vulture conservation action. Through the SAVE consortium, we are working together to promote Vulture Safe Zones (areas important for vultures where focussed local advocacy and monitoring takes place), and where appropriate the release, tracking and monitoring of vultures. We are also prioritising the need for drug regulation change involving drug testing, licencing, banning and enforcement, and also building capacity of partners to achieve more positive outcomes for vultures.

Continue reading
• Landmark step - India bans two vulture killer drugs
• Spreading their wings – White-rumped Vultures take to the skies in Nepal
• Crossing borders and continents for conservation – the story of the Egyptian Vulture

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