The excessive use of the veterinary medicinal product diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory substance used to treat livestock, is killing thousands of vultures worldwide, denounced the ecological community in the international day of the Vulture, which nowadays commemorates.
Initially, this day dedicated to the vultures was only concluded by Birds of Prey Programme, a South African organization and the Hawk Conservancy Trust, of England, who joined and managed to internationalize this day, with the goal of making to get the message across to more people
This year seeks to draw attention to the use of diclofenac, which causes the death of vultures by kidney failure. The use of veterinary diclofenac has caused the disappearance of 99% of vultures in South Asia.
"This phenomenon is spreading across Europe, where there are four species of vultures. In Portugal there are three species, the britango, in danger of extinction, the Black Vulture, critically endangered, and the Griffin, almost threatened. Are species that can be found in remote regions of the interior, along the border, and have an important function in the ecosystems health. These birds scavenge the carcasses of wild animals and domestic, a fast and efficient way, and at zero cost, "explains the SPEA said in a statement.
Recent studies show that the great eagles also suffer from poisoning by diclofenac. Bald eagles were found dead steppe in India with residues of this medicine. These Eagles are of the same genus of the Golden Eagle and the imperial Eagle, two species in danger of extinction in Portugal. Scientists fear that the birds of this genus may be susceptible to this toxic substance, fearing the decline of these species on the continent.
In Spain and in Italy, regarded as important areas for the European population of vultures and eagles, the diclofenac vet is already legally marketed, although there are other alternative products.
Faced with these constraints, BirdLife International and the Vulture Conservation Foundation, in conjunction with national organizations, joined efforts to organize a campaign to ban the use of diclofenac vet in Europe and its replacement by the alternatives that exist.
In Portugal, a coalition of Longer (SPEA, LPN, Quercus, FAPAS, VILLAGE, ATN and CEAI) is working with the authorities of the nature conservation and of the veterinary medicinal product, to prevent the legalization of diclofenac in our country.
The vultures in the world there are 21 species of vultures in the world, five of them can be found on the American continent. Other 16 are distributed across Africa, Europe and Asia. Of the so-called old world vultures, 75% are globally threatened or near threatened. This is expected to increase in the next assessment of the conservation status. The four species of vultures in Europe the britango, which is "in danger", the Black Vulture that is "Almost in danger" and important populations of Griffin and bearded vulture. Three of the four species of vultures have been gradually increasing (except britango), mainly due to intensive conservation efforts financed by European Union projects. Since 1996, the EU and national Governments have invested significant resources in conservation of vultures, having been at least 67 projects related to the conservation of these birds. Between 2008 and 2012, nine projects of conservation of vultures received 10.7 million euros. All conservation efforts will be useless if the use of diclofenac veterinarian become widespread.
What is diclofenac?Â
Diclofenac is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine (NSAID) present in many medicines used to take moderate pains. It is extremely toxic to vultures in small doses. Its use in cattle caused the deaths of 99% of the populations of vultures in South Asia in the 90. The vultures that eat cattle treated with a dose of veterinary diclofenac die in less than 2 days.
There are secure alternatives to diclofenac? Yes â€" the alternative medicine insurance, meloxicam, was tested on vultures and other bird species. The patent of meloxicam has more than 10 years, that is, any pharmaceutical company can produce it at relatively low costs.
Fotos: SPEA e Noel Reynolds / Creative Commons
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