July 2015: Indian Government bans large diclofenac vials

By Irene Sabiniarz | 17th July 2015

A major step for the future of vultures in India has just been announced on the Ministry of Health website, posting the gazetted notification restricting human formulations of injectable diclofenac to ‘single unit dose pack only’! The notification takes immediate effect (dated 17 July 2015). The reason this is so significant is that the larger…

2014 News Summary

By Irene Sabiniarz | 27th December 2014

•January, Support for New Vulture Safe Zone in Madhya Pradesh –The Bombay Natural History Society, with support from Rio Tinto, are set to establish a new Vulture Safe Zone (VSZ) in Madhya Pradesh which will incorporate the Long-billed vulture (as highlighted in the 2014 SAVE Report). Indian press coverage: BusinessLine and CounterCurrent •February, BBC highlights…

October 2014: new papers published

By Irene Sabiniarz | 28th October 2014

NEED TO ADD SECOND AND THIRD PAPER New key papers – number of vultures deaths per meal reduced by two thirds since deadly drug ban and flunixin also toxic …but now the threat has moved to Europe as diclofenac is licensed for veterinary use in Italy and Spain. The number of vultures dying from diclofenac…

October 2014: Record breeding success again at BNHS centres in India

By Irene Sabiniarz | 17th October 2014

We are pleased to announce that 37 nestlings have recently fledged from three of the vulture conservation breeding centres across India . This comprises 17 Oriental white-backed, 16 Long-billed and 4 Slender-billed vultures. The numbers were again boosted by the artificial incubation efforts at Pinjore, and new trials of ‘chick exchanging’, an exciting new dimension…

July 2014: Recent vulture mortalities in Assam and the need to keep the removal of diclofenac in India a priority

By Irene Sabiniarz | 17th July 2014

Just this year, there has been a series of vulture mortality events reported in Assam. One hundred and seventy-nine vultures have been killed in seven separate incidents. The majority of the dead vultures are Himalayan (Griffon) Vultures, but significant numbers of Oriental white-backed vultures have also been killed, as well as several slender-billed vultures. Samples…

April 2014: New paper highlights two more threatened vultures apparently prone to diclofenac

By Irene Sabiniarz | 17th April 2014

A new paper in the Cambridge Journal Bird Conservation International shows how population trends of both Red-headed Vulture and Egyptian Vultures have declined across India in parallel with those of the Critically Endangered Asian Gyps species. They have also shown corresponding slight signs of recovery again corresponding to the diclofenac ban and reduced levels of…

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