Tamil Nadu has taken a huge step towards protecting the critically endangered vultures. The office of the Director of Drugs Control has registered over 100 cases against suppliers, distributors, manufacturers and retailers of diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug for cattle treatment.
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The drug has been banned across India because it has proved to be toxic to vultures. With its use since the early 1990s, the vulture population, including the white-rumped vulture, the long-billed vulture, the slender-billed vulture, the red-headed vulture and the Egyptian vulture, have plummeted nationwide. Four of India’s nine species have been listed as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Speaking to The Hindu, K. Sivabalan, Director of Drugs Control, said over 100 cases had been registered in the last two years for “prohibited packaging” of diclofenac. “As diclofenac is not banned for human use, restrictions have been placed to ensure that the drug is not used by veterinarians on cattle. One among them is that the drug be packaged in single-dose vials. Most of the cases have been registered for the sale of multi-dose vials, which are preferred for treatment of cattle,” Mr. Sivabalan said.
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Tamil Nadu’s decision to enforce the ban on diclofenac for use in cattle is one of the rare instances in which policies formulated to protect vultures is being implemented by local governments, said S. Bharathidasan, of Arulagam, a non-governmental organisation that has been working towards vulture conservation in Tamil Nadu, especially in Sigur. “The government has also actively moved to curtail the use of other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ketoprofen and flunixin, in the Nilgiris, Erode and Coimbatore — the few vulture strongholds in the State,” he said.
Chris Bowden, Globally Threatened Species Officer and Programme Manager for Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction (SAVE), said the State was once again demonstrating its commitment to vulture conservation by preventing the sale of large vials of diclofenac, making it harder for veterinarians and cattle-owners to use the drug.
“There are safe alternative drugs available, so there is no need to allow this illegal practice of continued diclofenac use. Meloxicam and tolfenamic acid are cheap and safe options and out of patent, so drug manufacturers and suppliers should be focusing on producing them and help the vulture populations recover,” said Mr. Bowden, who is also the co-chair of the IUCN vulture specialist group.
“”If diclofenac can be fully removed from veterinary practice across India, we can start releasing vultures from the breeding programmes, and look for population recovery. There is one final step required though: to regulate the use of three other dangerous drugs — aceclofenac, nimesulide and ketoprofen. But with safe options available, this step seems a small price to pay for saving India’s nine vulture species from extinction,” he added.