Once a common sight in the skies of Pakistan, today the white-backed vulture is facing extinction — its population devastated by the use of industrial drugs to breed the cattle whose carcasses they traditionally feed on.
Bird numbers have plummeted by more than 99 per cent since the 1990s, according to the local branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which is desperately attempting to ensure the species does not die out.
“Once vultures were found in a very good number in Pakistan,” explains Warda Javed, coordinator for the WWF backed Vulture Restoration Project.
But due to several threats — principally the use of the anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac, which causes kidney failure, the birds are dying out.

In a vast screened enclosure in the eastern forest of Changa Manga, about 100 kilometres from Lahore, some 20 Gyps Bengalensis — or the white-backed vultures — wait patiently for their dinner, traditionally made of donkey and goat meat.
With plumage of white and ash grey, their powerful beaks fitted to long pink necks, they watch from their wooden perches, some ten metres above the ground. They boast a wingspan of two metres and weigh up to 7.5 kilogrammes.
Locked up, at least they are safe: the goal is to keep the species alive until outside conditions improve enough for them to be released.
Diclofenac is used as a painkiller by livestock breeders in Pakistan.
Vultures consume the meat off the carcasses of the cattle and so ingest the drugs, which wreak havoc with their systems.

The WWF is lobbying authorities, veterinarians and pharmaceutical companies for the replacement of Diclofenac with an alternative, Meloxicam, which is safer for the birds.
Diclofenac was banned in neighbouring India in 2006 after it was also blamed for destroying the vulture population there, which went from millions to just a few thousand in little more than a decade, but it remains in use in Pakistan.
Symbols of death
At the Vulture Restoration Project in Changa Manga they are playing the long game.
Four vulture babies were born in the last two years through the centre's breeding programme, but it will be years before they are released into the wild.
“Up till 2020, we don't have any release plans until we have a controlled environment outside this centre as well,” Javed explains, warning that even if Diclofenac is banned in Pakistan, other drugs used in cattle breeding can cause problems for the birds.
There are eight species of vultures in Pakistan, two of which — the white-backed vulture and the Indian vulture — are critically endangered.

Principally scavengers that feast on carcasses, the birds have long been associated with death: an issue compounded on the Indian subcontinent as they have also been used to dispose of human remains as part of the centuries-old tradition of Dakhma, the funeral process of the Zoroastrian community known as the Parsis.
Bodies were first put on top of mountains and later on placed on top of specially-built structures known as 'Towers of Silence', where the flesh was devoured by the birds. But the Parsi community is dwindling in India and Pakistan, and the custom is fading.

The association with death and misfortune, however, still lingers; making it hard to galvanise public sympathy for the creatures' dire plight.
Fatima Arif of WWF-Pakistan concedes that for most people, vultures evoke negative emotions, but is hopeful the charity can help them improve their image.
“We are trying to gather the general public to let them know that the myths that are generally associated with this species are not really based on any fact but they are just folklore,” she says.
Arif adds: “Vultures are very shy birds, they are very caring parents.”
Comments (18) Closed
From childhood I remmber looking at them in sky not very fondly but dislike.
It is so sad to see man kind destroying every thing it comes in touch with.
critical to the ecosystem. save them
What about the drugs effect on people??
If they have plummeted by more than 99 per cent then that is very sad state of affairs for the vultures - essential for the ecosystem. Commendable work at least by WWF-Pakistan that they are breeding some.
The end of the vultures in the country will make it easier for the people who have to throw away the carcasses of dead animals to sell the same to hotels for feeding to their customers. They can also go out for the vultures to be slaughtered and served as delicacies from amongst the migratory birds from Siberia.
Save the vultures. Thank you for the initiative. Regulate use of chemicals that kill.
When the vulture mentalities are entering in government and establishments, how the real vultures will survive?
If vultures are dying of kidney failures due to eating the flesh of dead animals having chemical additives in their feeds, what is the effect of the same chemical on humans also eating meat of the same animals?
It is not just one country or province, it is same story everywhere. We have become so indifferent to the non-human creatures. Unless everyone realizes and fulfills one's responsibility towards nature, we are moving towards a certain end of humans from earth.
@M.Saeed .Almost same effects on humans. The kidney failure, and finally dealth. Its responsibility of doctor to fully explain the patient about side effects of each pain killer,antibiotics,or anti inflammatory drugs.Besides no medicine be taken empty stomach, and supporting vitamins must be prescribed by doctors to prevent damage. The awareness level of common people must be raised by TV programmes on health & drug reactions. We must listen with interest programmes on healthcare, like we listen TV political anchors relays, often noted there anchors speak out exaggerated figures, like if corruption amount is Rs 0.-1 m, they will say Rs 10m, its better to view better programmes like educational relays or healthcare information.Closing my comments I must thank Dawn for such a timely report on extinction of Vulture.
Reminds me of bano qudsia novel Raja Gidh.
Because their job has been taken by politicians ...
In Pakistan large numbers of human are extincting, why we care vultures & panda's?
If its killing the vultures, and they can live thru eating spoiled dead animals, imagine what it is doing to the humans.
I don't know much about the vultures, and certainly don't know anything about the different species, I do know one thing, they are every where here in Texas, all black, always on the side of the highways and interstates feasting on the road kills, maybe Texas can donate a few thousand to Pakistan.
If vultures whose diet consist of animal carcasses are affected by these drugs... I wonder how it affects us humans.
Such a shame. Similar is the situation with white backed African vultures in Uganda, Africa.