UNB, Dhaka :
The government has banned the use of Ketoprofen, a toxic veterinary drug that causes death to vultures, in the country’s two vulture safe zones, aiming to protect the nature cleaners from its extinction.
The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) on Wednesday issued a circular, restricting the sale, distribution, storage and exhibition of Ketoprofen in any form in the safe zones.
In December 2014, the government declared two safe zones for vultures where ‘zero tolerance’ is shown towards using Diclofenac and other harmful veterinary drugs under article 20 (1) of Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act 2012. The designated areas are Sylhet, parts of Dhaka and Chittagong covering an area of 19,663.18 sq km as Vulture Safe Zone-1,
and Khulna, Barisal and parts of Dhaka covering an area of 27,717.26 sq km as Vulture Safe Zone-2. As per a decision of the 5th meeting of the National Vulture Conservation Committee, the directorate also instructed all the Ketoprofen-producing companies to refrain from selling, distributing, storing and exhibiting the drug in the areas. The White-rumped Vulture was once widely seen in Bangladesh but is now considered as rare and thinly distributed one.
According to the data of IUCN Bangladesh, the country’s vulture population is less than 260 individuals.
During the last one decade, it is scientifically proven beyond doubt that the use of Diclofenac and Ketoprofen in animals, especially in cattle, has led to the massive mortality and a sharp decline in the vulture population as both the drugs are poisonous to vultures. IUCN vulture investigator ABM Sarowar Alam told UNB that the government earlier banned the sale of toxic veterinary drug Diclofenac and now banned Ketoprofen as well, which will help increase vulture population in the country.
Toxic veterinary drugs – Diclofenac and Ketoprofen – are widely used in treatment of domestic animals in the country. And when vultures eat the carcass of dead animals in which the toxic drugs were used, they immediately suffer from kidney failure, causing rapid decline in its population.
The government has banned the use of Ketoprofen, a toxic veterinary drug that causes death to vultures, in the country’s two vulture safe zones, aiming to protect the nature cleaners from its extinction.
The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) on Wednesday issued a circular, restricting the sale, distribution, storage and exhibition of Ketoprofen in any form in the safe zones.
In December 2014, the government declared two safe zones for vultures where ‘zero tolerance’ is shown towards using Diclofenac and other harmful veterinary drugs under article 20 (1) of Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act 2012. The designated areas are Sylhet, parts of Dhaka and Chittagong covering an area of 19,663.18 sq km as Vulture Safe Zone-1,
and Khulna, Barisal and parts of Dhaka covering an area of 27,717.26 sq km as Vulture Safe Zone-2. As per a decision of the 5th meeting of the National Vulture Conservation Committee, the directorate also instructed all the Ketoprofen-producing companies to refrain from selling, distributing, storing and exhibiting the drug in the areas. The White-rumped Vulture was once widely seen in Bangladesh but is now considered as rare and thinly distributed one.
According to the data of IUCN Bangladesh, the country’s vulture population is less than 260 individuals.
During the last one decade, it is scientifically proven beyond doubt that the use of Diclofenac and Ketoprofen in animals, especially in cattle, has led to the massive mortality and a sharp decline in the vulture population as both the drugs are poisonous to vultures. IUCN vulture investigator ABM Sarowar Alam told UNB that the government earlier banned the sale of toxic veterinary drug Diclofenac and now banned Ketoprofen as well, which will help increase vulture population in the country.
Toxic veterinary drugs – Diclofenac and Ketoprofen – are widely used in treatment of domestic animals in the country. And when vultures eat the carcass of dead animals in which the toxic drugs were used, they immediately suffer from kidney failure, causing rapid decline in its population.
