Diclofenac residues as the cause of vulture population decline in Pakistan

• Published in: Nature Vol. 427; no. 6975; pp. 630 - 633
• Main Authors: Oaks, J. Lindsay, Gilbert, Martin, Virani, Munir Z, Watson, Richard T, Meteyer, Carol U, Rideout, Bruce A, Shivaprasad, H. L, Ahmed, Shakeel, Iqbal Chaudhry, Muhammad Jamshed, Arshad, Muhammad, Mahmood, Shahid, Ali, Ahmad, Ahmed Khan, Aleem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing 12.02.2004; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Animal populations; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Anti-inflammatory agents; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - administration & dosage; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - poisoning; Applied ecology; Autopsy - veterinary; Aves; Biological and medical sciences; Bird Diseases - chemically induced; Bird Diseases - diagnosis; Bird Diseases - epidemiology; Bird Diseases - pathology; Birds; Cause of Death; Conservation of Natural Resources; Diclofenac - administration & dosage; Diclofenac - poisoning; Diet; Drug Residues - poisoning; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Endangered & extinct species; Food Chain; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gout - chemically induced; Gout - complications; Gout - epidemiology; Gout - veterinary; Gyps bengalensis; Liver - chemistry; Liver - pathology; Livestock; Mortality; National parks; Pakistan - epidemiology; Population decline; Population Dynamics; Raptors - physiology; Renal Insufficiency - chemically induced; Renal Insufficiency - epidemiology; Renal Insufficiency - pathology; Renal Insufficiency - veterinary; Residues; Uric Acid - analysis; Veterinary Medicine; Asia; Pakistan; India; Kidney disease; Prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase; Enzyme; Toxicity; Mortality; Enzyme inhibitor; Wild animal; Carcass; Raptor; Diclofenac; Non steroidal antiinflammatory agent; Trophic chain; Vertebrata; Analgesic; Arylacetic acid derivatives; Residue; Renal failure; Antipyretic; Livestock; Oxidoreductases; Aves; Chemical contamination
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/nature02317

The Oriental white-backed vulture (OWBV; Gyps bengalensis) was once one of the most common raptors in the Indian subcontinent. A population decline of >95%, starting in the 1990s, was first noted at Keoladeo National Park, India. Since then, catastrophic declines, also involving Gyps indicus and Gyps tenuirostris, have continued to be reported across the subcontinent. Consequently these vultures are now listed as critically endangered by BirdLife International. In 2000, the Peregrine Fund initiated its Asian Vulture Crisis Project with the Ornithological Society of Pakistan, establishing study sites at 16 OWBV colonies in the Kasur, Khanewal and Muzaffargarh-Layyah Districts of Pakistan to measure mortality at over 2,400 active nest sites. Between 2000 and 2003, high annual adult and subadult mortality (5-86%) and resulting population declines (34-95%) (ref. 5 and M.G., manuscript in preparation) were associated with renal failure and visceral gout. Here, we provide results that directly correlate residues of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac with renal failure. Diclofenac residues and renal disease were reproduced experimentally in OWBVs by direct oral exposure and through feeding vultures diclofenac-treated livestock. We propose that residues of veterinary diclofenac are responsible for the OWBV decline.