Abstract
Three endemic vulture species Gyps bengalensis, Gyps indicus and Gyps tenuirostris are critically endangered following dramatic declines in South Asia resulting from exposure to diclofenac, a veterinary drug present in the livestock carcasses that they scavenge. Diclofenac is widely used globally and could present a risk to Gyps species from other regions. In this study, we test the toxicity of diclofenac to a Eurasian (Gryps fiulvus) and an African (Cryps afticanus) species, neither of which is threatened. A dose of 0.8 mg kg(-1) of diclofenac was highly toxic to both species, indicating that they are at least as sensitive to diclofenac as G. bengalensis 11 for which we estimate an LD50 Of 0.1-0.2 mg kg(-1). We suggest that diclofenac is likely to be toxic to all eight Gyps species, and that G. africanus, which is phylogenetically close to G. bengalensis, would be a suitable surrogate for the safety testing of alternative drugs to diclofenac.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 279-282 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Biology Letters |
Volume | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2006 |
Keywords
- diclofenac
- vultures
- toxicity
- Gyps
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug
- INDIAN SUBCONTINENT
- POPULATIONS