From vivek.tiwari@SBCGLOBAL.NET Sun Dec 5 14:47:23 2004
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2004 17:26:13 -0800
From: Vivek Tiwari
To: nathistory-india@Princeton.EDU
Subject: Fwd: RE: [OB] IUCN Vulture Resolution
--- "Bowden, Chris" wrote:
> To: "'Vivek Tiwari'" ,
> "'orientalbirding@yahoogroups.com'"
>
> From: "Bowden, Chris"
> Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2004 16:21:42 -0000
> Subject: RE: [OB] IUCN Vulture Resolution
>
>
> Thanks for raising this point, as it has
> understandably caused some
> discussion, especially as the story has unfolded
> relatively fast over recent
> months.
>
> Two very recent publications (listed below with
> web-links) have demonstrated
> that 75% of vulture corpses collected from a wide
> range of states in India
> and Nepal tested positive for diclofenac and these
> same birds had all died
> of gout - thus supporting the earlier conclusions
> from Pakistan that
> diclofenac is a major mortality factor throughout
> South Asia. This, coupled
> with a modelling paper showing that diclofenac in
> less than 1% of cattle
> corpses (early indications from ongoing work by BNHS
> show the actual figure
> to be much more than this) would be enough to cause
> the observed vulture
> declines.
>
> This evidence has fully convinced most that
> diclofenac is a major cause and
> probably the major cause of the drastic recent
> declines. Please do read the
> papers for yourself and I hope you'll agree with the
> recovery plan
> priorities (see link below) to remove diclofenac
> from the environment, and
> bearing in mind the continuing rate of vulture
> declines, that captive
> breeding programmes are also essential and horribly
> urgent while there are
> still birds available to do this. I hope this
> clarifies the situation and
> that we can all help support the actions needed for
> these two key
> priorities.
>
> "Diclofenac poisoning is widespread in declining
> vulture populations across
> the Indian subcontinent."
> Shultz, S., Baral, H.S., Charman, S., Cunningham,
> A.A., Das, D., Ghalsasi,
> G.R., Goudar, M.S., Green, R.E., Jones, A., Nighot,
> P., Pain, D.J., Prakash,
> V. (2004)
> published in Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B (Suppl.) in
> September 2004
> http://www.vulturedeclines.org/gypdiclo1.pdf
>
> "Diclofenac poisoning as a cause of vulture
> population declines across the
> Indian subcontinent"
> RHYS E. GREEN, IAN NEWTON, SUSANNE SHULTZ, ANDREW A.
> CUNNINGHAM,
> MARTIN GILBERT, DEBORAH J. PAIN and VIBHU PRAKASH
> published in "Journal of Applied Ecology" Volume 41
> Issue 5 Page 793 -
> October 2004
>
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00954.x/
> full/
>
> Report of the international South Asian vulture
> recovery plan workshop 12-14
> February 2004
>
www.vulturedeclines.org/Vulture%20Recovery%20Workshop.pdf
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vivek Tiwari
> [mailto:vivek.tiwari@sbcglobal.net]
> Sent: 01 December 2004 02:59
> To: orientalbirding@yahoogroups.com;
> chris.bowden@rspb.org.uk
> Subject: Re: [OB] IUCN Vulture Resolution
>
>
> Is there really consensus that Diclofenac is the
> primary cause for the decline?
>
> For those of us not following this as closely, would
> someone care to summarize the evidence/conclusion.
>
> This has become a bit of a taboo topic on email
> groups
> given some very vocal correspondents but hoping that
> there is some positive (and non-emotional!) closure
> to
> this.
>
> Thanks!
> Vivek
>
>
> --- "Bowden, Chris"
> wrote:
>
> > To: "'Vulture-Conservation@yahoogroups.com'"
> > ,
> > "'orientalbirding@yahoogroups.com'"
> >
> > From: "Bowden, Chris"
> > Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 13:59:27 -0000
> > Subject: [OB] IUCN Vulture Resolution
> >
> >
> >
> > The following resolution was unanimously passed in
> > Bangkok last week, and
> > was a fusion of two very similar proposals. It is
> > especially pleasing that
> > the Indian Government directly supports this, and
> > governments of Pakistan,
> > Nepal and other range states were involved in the
> > resolution process, so
> > this should help to move things along for removing
> > diclofenac from the
> > environment and establishing breeding centres. I
> > have taken the text from
> > the circulated proposal, although it is possible
> > that the English will be
> > further 'polished' in the final version. Chris
> > Bowden, RSPB Vulture
> > Programme Manager.
> >
> >
> > CGR3.RESO78
> > Conservation of Gyps species of Vultures in South
> > and Southeast Asia
> >
> > RECOGNISING that vultures are specialized
> scavengers
> > that play a crucial
> > role in ridding the environment of dead animals
> that
> > would otherwise rot and
> > cause disease, despair and death to both humans
> and
> > livestock;
> >
> > RECOGNISING that the Long-billed (Gyps indicus),
> > Slender-billed (Gyps
> > tenuirostris) and White-rumped (Gyps bengalensis)
> > Vultures, endemic to South
> > East Asia, have declined by more than 97 percent
> > during the last 10 years in
> > South Asia and that populations are also at very
> low
> > levels in Southeast
> > Asia;
> >
> > NOTING that IUCN-The World Conservation Union has
> > listed the three species
> > as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List, the
> > highest category of
> > endangerment;
> >
> > NOTING that historically these Gyps species of
> > Vultures were common to very
> > common in their range countries (Pakistan, India,
> > Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
> > Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR and
> > Malaysia);
> >
> > FURTHER NOTING that these massive declines of
> > Vultures are caused by human
> > activities and could be reversed;
> > RECALLING that sufficient habitat is present in
> most
> > of the range countries
> > for the Vulture populations to re-colonize and
> allow
> > them to recover;
> >
> > FURTHER RECALLING that Vultures are an integral
> part
> > of the cultures in all
> > South Asian countries and play an important
> > ecological role by cleaning up
> > livestock carcasses;
> >
> > ACKNOWLEDGING that many range countries have taken
> > measures to protect
> > Vultures by including them in protected species
> > lists;
> >
> > FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGING that the Bombay Natural
> > History Society, with the
> > financial support of the Darwin Initiative for the
> > Survival of Species
> > (Government of the United Kingdom), the Royal
> > Society for the Protection of
> > Birds, the Zoological Society of London and the
> > Haryana Forest Department
> > (India) has established a Vulture Rescue Centre;
> >
> > NOTING that BirdLife International has determined
> > that all three species are
> > "Critical Endangered" in the Bird Red Data Book
> for
> > Asia, and that IUCN also
> > lists these species as Critically Endangered in
> the
> > IUCN Red List 2004,
> > mainly based on the continuing precipitous
> > population declines in all
> > populations;
> >
> > FURTHER NOTING that recent studies, published in
> the
> > journal Nature prove
> > that massive decline in the population of Vultures
> > in South Asia is mainly
> > due to the exposure to the Non Steroid Anti
> > Inflammatory Drug (NSAID)
> > Diclofenac in livestock carcasses (Nature 427,630-
> > 633 (12 Feb 2004));
> >
> > ACKNOWLEDGING THAT Diclofenac is the principal
> cause
> > for catastrophic
> > decline during the last decade but recognising
> that
> > other secondary factors
> > like the loss of nesting sites, indiscriminate use
> > of pesticides, and other
> > factors may be important on a local scale;
> >
> > AWARE of the fact that veterinary use of
> Diclofenac
> > started in India in 1993
> > and in Pakistan in 1998 and within a very short
> > time, massive deaths of
> > Vultures were noted in both countries;
> >
> > CONCERNED that widespread use of veterinary
> > Diclofenac raises significant
> > fear throughout the world about environmental
> > contamination by lethal drugs
> > that will further reduce the Gyps vultures to
> > unsustainable levels
> > inevitably leading to their extinction;
> >
> > AWARE of the need to restore vulture population
> > through captive breeding and
> > release at appropriate times, withdrawal of
> > veterinary Diclofenac, and its
> > replacement with an appropriate risk-free
> > substitute;
> >
> > FURTHER NOTING the South Asian Vulture Recovery
> Plan
> > and its
> > recommendations;
> >
> > CONGRATULATING the Haryana Forest Department for
> > providing free land and
> > other support for the establishment of the Vulture
> > Rescue Centre;
> >
> > NOTING the work already under way in support of
> the
> > programme by the
> > governments of Pakistan, India and Nepal; and
> >
> > CONGRATULATING the Darwin Initiative, the
> Peregrine
> > Fund, Royal Society for
> > the Protection of Birds, BirdLife International,
> > Zoological Society of
> > London, National Bird of Prey Trust for continuing
> > to support and fund
> > Vulture recovery initiatives in India, Nepal,
> > Pakistan and other countries;
> >
> > The World Conservation Congress at its 3rd Session
> > in Bangkok, Thailand,
> > 17-25 November 2004:
> >
> > I. CALLS on Gyps Vulture range states to begin
> > action immediately to
> > prevent all uses of Diclofenac in veterinary
> > applications that allow
> > Diclofenac to be present in carcasses of domestic
> > livestock available as
> > food for Vultures;
> >
> > 2. CALLS for the establishment, with the utmost
> > urgency, of an IUCN
> > South Asian Vulture Task Force under the auspices
> of
> > IUCN, to review, update
> > and facilitate implementation of the
> recommendations
> > of the South Asian
> > Vulture Recovery Plan;
> >
> > 3. REQUESTS Gyps Vulture range states to develop
> and
> > implement national
> > Vulture recovery plans, including conservation
> > breeding and release;
> >
> > 4. URGES the Gyps range states, along with
> national
> > and international
> > NGOs, especially BirdLife International, the Royal
> > Society for the
> > Protection of Birds (RSPB), the Bombay Natural
> > History Society, Bird
> > Conservation Nepal, the Ornithological Society of
> > Pakistan, the Peregrine
> > Fund, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the
> > National Bird of Prey
> > Trust (NBPT), the Wildlife Conservation Society
> and
> > others, and governments
> > to give special support, technical and financial,
> to
> > enable the
> > implementation of the South Asian Vulture Recovery
> > Plan; and
> >
> > 5. URGES the Director General and the Species
> > Survival Commission to
> > make:
> >
> > (a) a strategic commitment in developing an
> > effective program for
> > restoration of Vulture populations through
> > international cooperation; and
> > (b) a long term commitment including to seek ,
> > transfer of technical
> > expertise and financial support to the range
> states
> > from international donor
> > organizations and governments.
> >
> >
> > Sponsors:
> >
> > Bombay Natural History Society, India
> > Ministry of Environment and Forests, India
> > BirdLife International, United Kingdom
> > Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, United
> > Kingdom
> > Zoological Society of London, United Kingdom
> >
> > RWG COMMENT: 1 Pursuant to paragraph 29 of the
> > Regulations, the RWG provides
> > a consolidated motion which reflects the intent of
> > the sponsors of draft
> > motions entitled Conservation of Gyps species of
> > vultures in South and
> > Southeast Asia and Conservation of Vultures. This
> > motion is referred to the
> > Programme Committee for assessment and guidance.
> >
> > ...
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > This group is run in association with the Oriental
> > Bird Club. To find out more about the Club and its
> > conservation work, and to become a member, please
> > visit www.orientalbirdclub.org
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> ...
>
> ...
>
>
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