Circling In on a Vulture Killer

摘要

Scientists blame Asian vulture declines on a veterinary drug. In the 1980s, Oriental white-backed vultures (Gyps bengalensis) were probably the world's commonest large birds of prey, circling India's skies in the millions. By devouring dead livestock,they and other vultures perform a vital task in many Asian countries: removing rotting carcasses that could spread disease to humans. Today, this cleanup squad is imperiled: Numbers of white-backed and long-billed vultures (Gyps indicus) have declined by more than 99% and 97% respectively in India since 1992, with similarly drastic declines recorded in Pakistan and Nepal and among the rarer slender-billed vultures (Gyps tenuirostris). It's "one of the fastest population declines recorded for any bird species," says Rhys Green, a conservation biologist with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in Bedfordshire, U.K.