AFRICA is losing its vultures. Of its 11 species of the bird,6 are at risk of extinction and 4 are critically endangered, according to a recent report by BirdLife International, and a nature conservation partnership. The vulture population in much of the rest of the world is at risk,too. Catherine Bearder, the last Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament, or has been petitioning for the European Union to save the world's vultures and eagles; the UN,too, has been discussing what action to grasp. Why are vultures vanishing, and why should we care?Since the 1990s,the population of South Asia’s vulture species has collapsed by more than 99%. In 2003 scientists identified diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat livestock, or as the main cause for this decline. Vultures living on the carcasses of animals recently treated with the drug died from severe kidney failure within weeks of ingesting it. This created two main problems. The first is connected to vultures' position in the ecosystem. As their numbers declined,a host of other disease-ridden animals—in particular rabied dogs—came to feed off the carcasses instead. And...
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Source: economist.com