GOING SOUTH
THE GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP
The Atlantic Americas Flyway , which connects breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago with wintering grounds in the Caribbean and eastern South America , is one of eight major migratory routes — or flyways — used by birds throughout the world . It is favoured by both passerines and shorebirds , thanks to its plentiful coastal habitats , and the flat , easy-to-navigate landscape . However , some of this flyway ’ s most vital stopover sites are under threat . To combat declines , the BirdLife Partnership is working to protect chains of vital habitats along the entirety of the world ’ s longest north-to-south landmass
Alex Dale & Irene Lorenzo
GOING SOUTH
CAPTIVE-REARED CRITICALLY
ENDANGERED VULTURES
SOON TO BE RELEASED IN NEPAL
ASIA
South Asian vultures famously suffered dev-
astating population declines in recent decades
(e.g. 99.9% of White-rumped Vultures Gyps
bengalensis were wiped out between 1992 and
2007) due to the use of diclofenac, an anti-in-
flammatory drug given to reduce pain in live-
stock, but deadly to vultures that subsequently
feed on their carcasses. A ban of veterinary
diclofenac in India, Nepal and Pakistan in 2006
and Bangladesh in 2010 has allowed vulture
populations to stabilise and possibly start to
recover in some areas. However, five of South
Asia’s nine vulture species remain Endangered
or Critically Endangered; the misuse of human
diclofenac to treat livestock, as well as the use
of other vulture-toxic veterinary drugs, contin-
ues to threaten some South Asian vulture pop-
ulations with extinction. BirdLife Partners are
changing that, through a combination of advo-
cacy, legislation and education.
“WE STARTED
BY BUYING
PHARMACISTS OUT
OF LARGE BOTTLES.
NOW THE DISTRICT
IS COMPLETELY
DICLOFENAC-FREE”
Captive-reared White-
rumped Vulture set into
pre-release aviary.
Photo Bird Conservation Nepal
1
Meanwhile, White-rumped Vultures have
been kept in captivity as an insurance popula-
tion since 2008. Now, with a safer landscape
to roam in, BCN and RSPB are gearing up for
the first ever release of captive vultures in South
Asia. Six captive-reared vultures fitted with sat-
ellite transmitters are currently exercising their
wings in a pre-release aviary near Chitwan
National Park, socialising through the wire with
wild vultures that are fed at one of the pro-
gramme’s Vulture Safe Feeding Sites (see map).
Later this year, the door will be left open in what
will be a huge milestone for the species’ recov-
ery in Nepal.
“We will track the captive-reared vultures, allow-
ing us to learn more and respond to any threats”,
said Toby Galligan, Senior Conservation Sci-
entist, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science.
“Over the next three years, we will deploy more
satellite transmitters on wild vultures and captive
vultures that are to be released.”
Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), with the sup-
port of the Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds (RSPB), have been working hard to
rid Nepal of diclofenac. “We started by going
around shops in Nawalparasi district, buying
pharmacists out of large bottles of diclofenac,
whilst offering the safe alternative (meloxicam)
and raising awareness of the vulture declines”,
said Krishna Bhusal, Vulture Conservation Pro-
gramme Manager, BCN. “Now this district is
completely diclofenac-free.” District by district,
from pharmacists’ distributors to farmer’s son,
the campaign is on-going, but nearly complete.
The aim: a huge multi-district Vulture Safe Zone.
KEEP CALM
AND CARRION CAMPAIGNING
EUROPE
AIMING FOR A VULTURE-SAFE NEPAL
58 districts that have pledged to be diclofenac-free,
together forming a potential Vulture Safe Zone that
spans most of the country.
17 districts not currently engaged, but 5 of these
will be by the end of 2017 and the remaining 12
are the focus of a new project starting in 2018.
Six existing Vulture Safe Feeding Sites.
Also the release site.
The combined home range in the past six months of
six wild White-rumped Vultures fitted with satellite
transmitters at the release site. This provides a guide to
where the majority of the released vultures will range.
22
BANVET
DICLO
FENAC
BIRDLIFE • SEPTEMBER 2017
Given what we know about the use of diclofenac
and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
in Asia, it seems incredible that in 2014 diclofenac
was authorised for veterinary use in Europe,
(quickly becoming available commercially in
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