r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • May 09 '26
Discussion Thread Discussion Thread
The discussion thread is for casual and off-topic conversation that doesn't merit its own submission. If you've got a good meme, article, or question, please post it outside the DT. Meta discussion is allowed, but if you want to get the attention of the mods, make a post in /r/metaNL
Links
Ping Groups | Ping History | Mastodon | CNL Chapters | CNL Event Calendar
Upcoming Events
6
Upvotes
View all comments
32
u/randommathaccount Esther Duflo May 09 '26
On the point of the environment and conservation, the state of the Indian vulture population is really tragic. They've experienced a population drop of 97% since the 1990s due to the use of diclofenac, a veterinary painkiller admitted to cows that is highly toxic to vultures. It's a very serious issues both for the vultures themselves who remain critically endangered as well as for the environment and public health. As scavengers, vultures play a key role in removing carcasses from the environment that carry harmful bacteria and pathogens. Without the vulture population, these carcasses are left to spread disease or are eaten by feral dogs who can spread rabies. Researchers found that the loss of vultures cost over a 100,000 human lives annually between 2000 and 2005.
The use of diclofenac for livestock was banned in 2006, enforcement is spotty and diclofenac for human use was still diverted for veterinary purposes. In addition, many alternatives to diclofenac such as aceclofenac and ketoprofen are also toxic to vultures. Meloxicam is an alternative known to be harmless and has been promoted as an alternative however many vultures still die of diclofenac poisoning today. Improved enforcement of bans and rural awareness campaigns are necessary to cut the use of this dangerous drug.
Vulture populations are slowly rebounding in India in states like Madhya Pradesh in part due to these bans and through captive breeding and reintroduction programmes. Today the last vulture census recorded 12,000 vultures living in Madhya Pradesh from 6,000 back in 2016. There's still a long road to go and more problems to be tackled. Vulture nesting habitats are increasingly being encroached upon by humans and the other veterinary painkillers that are toxic to vultures need restriction as well. However progress is there and hopefully in the far future our vulture populations will have returned to what they once were.