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by ars 1033 days ago
Once the cause was noticed governments were relatively quick at banning Diclofenac and vulture numbers are slowly recovering.

Also people are breeding vultures with the intent to release them eventually. (There is still some illegal use of Diclofenac because it's legal for human use and some gets diverted to veterinary use.)
2 comments
RachelF 1033 days ago
It's still legal in Spain, and kills vultures there.
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Mordisquitos 1033 days ago
As a Spaniard I wasn't aware of this, thanks. I did a quick search for relevant news articles about it in case others are interested:

[en_GB] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/11/rare-eur...

[es_ES] https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/alerta-diclofenaco-medicame...

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ars 1032 days ago
It's less of a problem there because unlike India, when a cow dies in Spain it's disposed of rather than being left for vultures to eat.
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pvaldes 1032 days ago
> when a cow dies in Spain it's disposed of rather than being left for vultures to eat.

Sure. Do you remember extensive cattle farming?

The Fapas organization was what saved the vultures in Spain since 90's. Its main goal was to assure a steady supply of dead cattle so the vultures can eat. They sow the seeds that allowed the reintroduction of the bearded vulture decades later.

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pvaldes 1032 days ago
The difference between India and Spain is that we eat the cattle. Diclofenaco appears only in work animals, racehorses, etc.

Most of the time, when you find vultures poisoned in Spain are on purpose not necessarily with this product. That superstitious behavior is getting less common.

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supriyo-biswas 1033 days ago
Is there any record of the Indian government doing it? Ecological collapses such as this incident are quite serious and it’d make me happy to hear that some action is being taken.
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civilitty 1033 days ago
From the Drug Controller General of India in 2007 (the sources seem to be off by a year, or maybe it's just bureaucracy delays) [1]:

> AGENDA ITEM NO.1

> CREATION OF A NEW SCHEDULE-H(1) AND CORRESPONDING CHANGES IN THE RULES UNDER THE DRUGS AND COSMETICS RULES FOR SPECIAL PRODUCTS WHICH ARE REOUIRED TO BE SOLD UNDER SPECIFIED CONDITIONS i.e. DICLOFENAC AND SPECIFYING CONDITIONS FOR SALE OF SUCH PRODUCTS.

> DCG(I) explained that at present the sale of drugs is regulated under Schedule-H (prescription drugs), and under Schedule-X {psychotropic or habit forming drugs). A need is, however, being felt that a separate Schedule is required to monitor, control and evaluate sales of certain specific drugs where it is not desirable to allow indiscriminate and unregulated access. Such drugs- would be regulated through a new Schedule i.e. Schedule-H(l). The specific sale conditions for the drug will be notified by the Ministry of Healthand FW through notification.

> The committee after deliberations agreed to the creation of a new Schedule-H 1 under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules which would be strictly monitored by the State drug inspectors with a specific reference to Diclofenac preparations in respect of their veterinary use. The DCC also agreed to the prohibition of Diclofenac preparations for veterinary use. It further recommended that Diclofenac formulations meant for human use will print on their labels “Not for Veterinary Use”

[1] https://cdsco.gov.in/opencms/resources/UploadCDSCOWeb/2018/U...

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