Hope it's ok to forward this and that it's not a repetition--
From: "Jevgeni Shergalin" <zoolit at hotmail.com>
Reply-To: RaptorBiology at yahoogroups.com
To: <arrcn at pmb.biglobe.ne.jp>
CC:
<RaptorBiology at yahoogroups.com>,<Asian-raptors at yahoogroups.com>,<EGVWG at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [RaptorBiology] Vulture deaths
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 20:59:08 +0200
Forwarded from OB list. JS.
----------------------------------------
Bob Riseborough has very kindly provided information on the work of J.
Lindsey Oaks et al. to be published shortly in Nature. The work has been
published in advance online and is scheduled for paper publication on
February 12. The title & abstract of the paper are below.
A commentary by Bob is published also:
Fatal medicine for vultures
Robert Riseborough
NATURE| 28 JANUARY 2004 | doi:10.1038/nature02359 |www.nature.com/nature
The paper:
Diclofenac residues as the cause of vulture population decline in Pakistan
J. Lindsay Oaks, Martin Gilbert, Munir Z. Virani, Richard T. Watson, Carol
U. Meteyer, Bruce A. Rideout, H. L. Shivaprasad, Shakeel Ahmed, Muhammad
Jamshed Iqbal Chaudhry, Muhammad Arshad, Shahid Mahmood, Ahmad Ali & Aleem
Ahmed Khan
The Oriental white-backed vulture (OWBV; Gyps bengalensis)
was once one of the most common raptors in the Indian
subcontinent1. A population decline of >95%, starting in the
1990s, was first noted at Keoladeo National Park, India2. Since
then, catastrophic declines, also involving Gyps indicus and Gyps
tenuirostris, have continued to be reported across the subcontinent3.
Consequently these vultures are now listed as critically
endangered by BirdLife International4. In 2000, the Peregrine
Fund initiated its Asian Vulture Crisis Project with the Ornithological
Society of Pakistan, establishing study sites at 16 OWBV
colonies in the Kasur, Khanewal and Muzaffargarh?Layyah Districts
of Pakistan to measure mortality at over 2,400 active nest
sites5. Between 2000 and 2003, high annual adult and subadult
mortality (5?86%) and resulting population declines (34?95%)
(ref. 5 and M.G., manuscript in preparation) were associated with
renal failure and visceral gout. Here, we provide results that
directly correlate residues of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac
with renal failure. Diclofenac residues and renal disease
were reproduced experimentally in OWBVs by direct oral
exposure and through feeding vultures diclofenac-treated livestock.
We propose that residues of veterinary diclofenac are
responsible for the OWBV decline.
Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.L.O.
(loaks at vetmed.wsu.edu)
Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State
University, Pullman, Washington 99164-7040, USA
pete pjh at mrc-dunn.cam.ac.uk
Pete Holt
Electron Crystallography 2.19
MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit
Wellcome Trust/MRC Building
Hills Road
Cambridge CB2 2XY
01223 252911
----------------------
The BBC website today is carrying an article describing research that
claims to prove that Asian Vulture deaths are linked to a common veterinary
drug, diclofenac. This drug is apparently present in animal caracsasses
which the Vultures feed upon:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3437583.stm
This web article claims that the research, from Dr Lindsay Oaks of
Washington State University, is published in Nature, but i have not been
able to locate any such article.
I have found several web-based reports on the Sixth World Conference on
Birds of Prey and Owls held in May 2003 which mention this research,
describing diclofenac as causing renal failure in Gyps species.
many apologies if this is old news to people.
pete
Pete Holt
Electron Crystallography 2.19
MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit
Wellcome Trust/MRC Building
Hills Road
Cambridge CB2 2XY
01223 252911
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