The Hindu, September 1, 2015
Wayanad’s majestic vultures may yet live on. Vulture
conservationists in the State are upbeat over the curbs on Diclofenac,
an anti-inflammatory drug acknowledged to have caused the decimation of
vultures in the Indian subcontinent. It had cast its pall over Wayanad
too.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
had recently restricted human formulations of injectable Diclofenac to
single, 3 ml dose packs. The larger multi-dose vials that used to deluge
the market have been the main source of Diclofenac for veterinary use,
being more convenient for illegally treating cattle, which requires much
larger doses than humans, than using several small vials. So the
government restriction is now hoped to reduce the misuse of Diclofenac,
says C. Sasikumar, ornithologist and vulture conservationist working in
the Western Ghats.
Diclofenac for veterinary use was
banned in the country in 2006, but was available in 30ml vial even as
late as last year in areas adjacent to the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary,
says C.K. Vishnudas, a field ornithologist who conducted a study on the
impact of post-ban availability of the drug recently, as part of a
vulture conservation programme in South India. As many as 35
White-rumped vultures, five Red-headed vultures and two Indian vultures
were sighted during a recent survey in the sanctuary.
The
Wayanad sanctuary is the only region where vultures thrive in the
State. The breeding population of White-rumped vultures, Red-headed
vultures, and Indian vultures in the sanctuary depends entirely on wild
carcasses for food. The availability of Diclofenac in the vicinity had
posed a serious threat to the surviving vulture population, he adds.
There is a large cattle population in the tribal settlements near the
sanctuary.
“The pharmacies in the area should be
monitored strictly to ensure that they are not selling higher volumes of
Diclofenac. The carcasses of cattle in the habitats must also be
watched regularly to identify the level of Diclofenac residue in them,’’
Mr. Sasikumar added.
As the three species of South
Asian vultures have declined nearly 97 per cent in the country, the
restrictions on Diclofenac will have far reaching effects, says Mr.
Chris Bowden, programme officer, SAVE, a global platform for Saving
Asia's Vultures from Extinction.
A White-rumped vulture sighted inside the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.
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