The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Vulture numbers declining because of malarial infection

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Saturday, Dec 01, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Vulture numbers declining because of malarial infection

M. Sai Gopal

Till recently, studies indicated that indiscriminate use of Diclofenac had been causing a decline in their numbers

HYDERABAD: Contrary to the popular perception, Diclofenac, the anti-inflammatory drug, is not solely responsible for the rapid decline in the numbers of white-backed vulture, a study by scientists of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has found.

Genomic DNA isolated from the blood of 14 vultures (12 dead and two alive) in Gadhchiroli of Maharashtra has indicated that the number of ‘Gyps bengalensis’ (white-backed vultures) was declining because of malarial infections. The causative agent for the infection was found to be ‘Plasmodium Sp. AP70’ and not Diclofenac, the study found.

The two-year research project taken up by CCMB’s Deputy Director S. Shivaji, along with researchers of Maharashtra State Animal Husbandry Department, was concentrated in Gadchiroli because in the last one decade the vulture population declined rapidly in the region.

Till recently several studies by top researchers in India, Nepal and Pakistan indicated that indiscriminate veterinary use of Diclofenac was causing a sharp decline in vulture numbers. However, now scientists say that there could be other ‘major factors’ playing a major role in their decline.

“All the surveys and work reported on vultures in India so far has been confined to Northern and North-western regions where the vultures’ number was traditionally high. But there were no reports on the causes of vulture deaths from South and Central India, although similar decline had been recorded in these areas as well,” said the study.

Diclofenac estimation was done in the tissues of three birds, which were positive for malaria.

“We could not detect any trace of the drug in these birds suggesting that the deaths were due to malarial infections,” the report said. Interestingly, the study also said that the malarial strain found in vultures was earlier identified as a strain infecting the Mountain Thronbill (‘Acanthiza Katherina’) in tropical Australia and Papua New Guinea.

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