THE battle to save vultures is getting more frustrating than what conservationist had imagined. The National Board of Wildlife headed by the Prime Minister himself gave a time frame of September 2005 to phase out the drug Diclofenac responsible for killing vultures. It is status quo since then with the government not taking decisions as yet.

Diclofenac is used as an anti–inflammatory drug in cattle. But vultures die when they ingest the drug after feeding on a carcass – it makes them accumulate uric acid leading to damage in kidney gout. An alternative, Mexocam, has been tested and found to be an effective painkiller as well as harmless. Results have been published in the medical journal PLoS Biology.  

While the government is taking its own time, the time for vultures is running out. They have declined from an estimated 50 million 10years ago to just a few thousand. Three species of vultures in India are now categoriesd as ‘critically endangered’ by the World Conservation

Union – the slender– billed, oriental white-backed and longbilled vultures. Now the question is why Diclofenac has not been banned when a proven safe alternative, Meloxicam, is available? “There is every evidence to show that Diclofenac is the culprit. But still the government is sitting over the decision,” said Asad Rahmani, director, Bombany Natural History Society. BNHS is working on breeding vultures in captivity at two sites in the country.

The decision is on two ministries – Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Animal Husbandry Department. While the Ministry of Environment agreed on the ban early on and made a recommendation to this effect, the Animal Husbandry Department is

 still “examing, studying” alternatives before they issue a ban. “We have already asked state government to not stock Diclofenac. We are awaiting results from our research labs for further action,” said S K Bandyopadhyay, Commissioner, Animal Husbandry Department.

Conservationists feel a mere advisory is not enough. “I am appalled at the attitude shown by the Animal Husbandry Department. Inspite if every evidence presented to them, they come back to us with stupid questions,” said Rahmani.

The answer could lie in the fact that Diclofenac is an estimated Rs 20 crore market and about 25 companies, including Ranbaxy and Wockhardt, manufacture the drug. The replacement Meloxicam is twice as expensive as that of Diclofenac.