Gyps bengalensis

CITES Appendix II. CMS Appendix II. It has been reported from many protected areas across its range. There has been a proposal to add the species to the protected species list of the 1973 National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act in Nepal. The Indian government has now passed a bill banning the manufacture of the veterinary drug diclofenac that has caused the rapid population decline across the Indian Subcontinent; their aim was to phase out its use by late 2005^13,17, although its sale has not been banned and it is likely to remain in widespread use for several years. Similar laws banning import and manufacture of diclofenac are now in place in Nepal and Pakistan. Efforts to replace diclofenac with a suitable alternative are ongoing; drug companies have now developed meloxicam, an alternative to diclofenac which has been tested on a number of species including Gyps vultures with no apparent ill-effects²⁵. In 2008 the Indian government ordered a crackdown on companies selling diclofenac. A letter from the Drug Controller General of India warned more than 70 drugs firms not to sell the veterinary form of diclofenac, and to mark human diclofenac containers 'not for veterinary use'²⁷. A study of 11 administrative districts in Nepal found diclofenac use dropped by 90% since 2006 following the introduction of measures to reduce its use²⁴. Vulture restaurants are increasingly used as ecotourism attractions in parts of the species's range, particularly Cambodia, to raise awareness and fund supplementary feeding programmes and research. The exchange of diclofenac with meloxican near breeding colonies is taking place in Nepal in combination with diversionary feeding with diclofenac-free carcasses. Diversionary feeding has been shown to reduce but not eliminate vulture mortality from diclofenac poisoning, and uncertainty over the movements of Asian Gyps vultures makes the effectiveness of measures such as these uncertain²⁵. Birds have been satellite tagged in various parts of their range to improve understanding of their movements, foraging range, site fidelity etc., to aid development of suitable conservation strategies for the species⁴. Socioeconomic surveys in Nepal have shown that local people are strongly in favour of vulture conservation because of the associated ecological services that vultures provide¹⁶. The Report of the International South Asian Vulture Recovery Plan Workshop in 2004 gave a comprehensive list of recommendations including establishing a minimum of three captive breeding centres each capable of holding 25 pairs²⁰. Captive breeding efforts are ongoing and met with success when two chicks hatched in early 2007 at a breeding centre in Pinjore, Haryana²¹. The centre is part of a captive breeding programme established by the RSPB and Bombay Natural History Society. A website has been set up to allow researchers to contribute data on known colonies to identify founder individuals for captive flocks that will ensure the full geographical spread of the species is represented in captive breeding efforts¹⁸. By April 2008 there were 88 in captivity at three breeding centres in India, as well as 11 at a centre established by WWF-Pakistan and 14 in captivity in Nepal²⁵.

Identify the location and number of remaining individuals and identify action required to prevent extinction. Continue to measure the frequency of diclofenac-treated carcasses available to vultures. Support the ban on the veterinary use of diclofenac, and support species management or restoration, as needed. Initiate public awareness and public support programmes. Monitor remaining populations, in particular replicate conservation and research activities that have been implemented in Cambodia in Myanmar and survey southern India where it is hoped vulture populations may not have crashed to the same extent that they have in the rest of the Subcontinent. Provide supplementary food sources where necessary for food-limited populations in South-East Asia. Support captive breeding efforts at a number of separate centres with the aim of holding at least 150 pairs of each species in captivity^25,26. Promote the immediate adoption of meloxicam as an alternatives to diclofenac. Test other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to identify additional safe alternative drugs to diclofenac and also other toxic ones.