A drug for cattle became a threat to vultures, it was also difficult to hold the last rites of Parsis
New Delhi - There was a time when vultures were found in large numbers in India. Their existence was necessary to keep the environment balanced because vultures are carrion eaters. In rural areas and in uninhabited, wild regions, dead animals are eaten by vultures. As a result, the decay of dead bodies of these animals does not cause much damage to the environment.
In a report regarding the decline in the number of vultures, the British Broadcasting Corporation said that vultures used to be in large numbers in India and other countries in South Asia. They hovered around landfills. Dogs, cats and other animals that died on the roads and in the fields were eaten by vultures.
The rotting bodies of dead animals lying on the roads and in the fields used to be very hazardous to the environment as many insects would breed on these rotting animals and cause the spread of various diseases along with spoiling the environment.
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A major cause of vulture decline in India, Pakistan and other South Asian countries is a common livestock drug containing diclofenac acid. The drug is usually given to cows to treat their acidity. By the mid-1990s, India's 500,000 vultures had dwindled to near zero. Diclofenac is an inexpensive non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.
This drug given to cattle has proved to be very dangerous for vultures. Vultures have also been dying by eating the dead cattle to which this drug has been given. Many other birds have also been dying in the same way. The dangerous decline in vulture numbers has allowed many bacteria to thrive in the decomposition of dead animals and thus spread many diseases.
In a report published in the American Economic Journal, Eyal Frank, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, wrote that the alarming decline in the number of vultures across India has left five vulnerable to diseases. More or less five lakh people have died in more than a year. The situation is more alarming in cities as dead animals are dumped anywhere and the environment becomes polluted due to their decomposition. .
Between 2000 and 2005, vulture depletion caused an additional 100,000 deaths per year. The total loss to the economy as a result of premature deaths is $69 billion. As a result of the decrease in the number of vultures, the number of stray dogs has increased rapidly and as a result the risk of rabies to humans has multiplied. Now special attention is being paid to increase the number of vultures.
Vultures are being bred and released into the air at many specific locations. Vulture numbers are still dangerously low in many parts of India. Due to the absence of these large birds that eat dead animals, the rate of pollution in the environment is increasing. According to Livestock Survey 2019, there are 50 crore cattle in India. Vultures play a key role in disposing of dead livestock
