Authors
S Chandramohan, John W Mallord, Karikalan Mathesh, AK Sharma, K Mahendran, Manickam Kesavan, Reena Gupta, Krishna Chutia, Abhijit Pawde, Nikita V Prakash, P Ravichandran, Debasish Saikia, Rohan Shringarpure, Avinash Timung, Toby H Galligan, Rhys E Green, Vibhu M Prakash
Publication date
2022/2/25
Journal
Science of the Total Environment
Volume
809
Pages
152088
Publisher
Elsevier
Description
Population declines of Gyps vultures across the Indian subcontinent were caused by unintentional poisoning by the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac. Subsequently, a number of other NSAIDs have been identified as toxic to vultures, while one, meloxicam, is safe at concentrations likely to be encountered by vultures in the wild. Other vulture-safe drugs need to be identified to reduce the use of those toxic to vultures. We report on safety-testing experiments on the NSAID tolfenamic acid on captive vultures of three Gyps species, all of which are susceptible to diclofenac poisoning. Firstly, we estimated the maximum level of exposure (MLE) of wild vultures and gave this dose to 40 Near Threatened Himalayan Griffons G. himalayensis by oral gavage, with 15 control birds dosed with benzyl alcohol (the carrier solution for tolfenamic acid). Two birds given tolfenamic acid died with elevated uric acid …
Total citations
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