Vultures poisoned to the verge of extinction in Pakistan but stigma makes rescue more difficult
Diclofenac is used as a painkiller by livestock breeders in Pakistan, and vultures consume the meat off the carcasses of the cattle and so ingest the drugs
Once a common sight in the skies of Pakistan, today the white-backed vulture is facing extinction – its population devastated by the use of industrial drugs to breed the cattle whose carcasses they traditionally feed on.
Bird numbers have plummeted by more than 99 per cent since the 1990s, according to the local branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which is desperately attempting to ensure the species does not die out.
“Once vultures were found in a very good number in Pakistan,” explains Warda Javed, coordinator for the WWF backed Vulture Restoration Project.
But due to several threats – principally the use of the anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac, which causes kidney failure the birds are dying out.
The myths that are generally associated with this species are not really based on any fact
In a vast screened enclosure in the eastern forest of Changa Manga, about 100km from Pakistan’s cultural capital Lahore, some 20 Gyps Bengalensis – or the white-backed vultures – wait patiently for their dinner, traditionally made of donkey and goat meat.