UNB, Dhaka :
White-rumped vultures (Gyps bengalensis) are disappearing fast from Bangladesh due to the unchecked use of toxic drugs in cattle apart from food crisis and the loss of their habitats.
“Toxic veterinary drugs like diclofenac and ketoprofen used in saving cattle from diseases accelerate the decline of vultures in the country. When the vultures eat the dead bodies of cattle after the use of these drugs, they simply die,” Prof M Anwarul Islam, the chief executive of Wildteam, told UNB.
He said, the severe food crisis also contributes to the decline in the vultures as a very few cattle die in the country each year. “However, when domestic animals die, farmers buried them.”
Prof M Anwarul Islam, also a teacher of Zoology Department at Dhaka University, said vultures make nests on large trees, but the number of such trees is now rare in Bangladesh. So, the habitat loss is playing a role in the extinction of the species.
Wildlife biologist Dr Monirul H Khan said the white-rumped vultures are critically endangered in Bangladesh and they will disappear soon if immediate measures are not taken to protect them.
According to a study conducted by Dr Monirul H Khan, a teacher of Zoology Department at Jahangirnagar University, showed that the white-rumped vulture has declined by about 60 percent during 2008 and 2012 in the country while 98 percent in the last two decades.
The total population of the white-rumped vulture in suitable habitats across the country shows that the total population has drastically declined from an estimate 1972 in 2008-2009 to 816 in 2011-2012.
IUCN vulture investigator ABM Sarowar Alam (Dipu) told UNB that the vultures are disparaging faster than the endangered species in the country. “The tiger population is also declining fast in Bangladesh, but the decline of vulture is faster.”
Although the government has already banned the veterinary diclofenac to protect the vulture from extinction, the drug is still available in the market and three other new NSAIDs-meloxicam, ketoprofen and sodium salicylate-are introduced for veterinary treatments, which are also harmful to vultures.
The study said the availability of diclofenac in drugstores has decreased by 37 percent but the availability of three the other new NSAIDs has increased.
White-rumped vultures (Gyps bengalensis) are disappearing fast from Bangladesh due to the unchecked use of toxic drugs in cattle apart from food crisis and the loss of their habitats.
“Toxic veterinary drugs like diclofenac and ketoprofen used in saving cattle from diseases accelerate the decline of vultures in the country. When the vultures eat the dead bodies of cattle after the use of these drugs, they simply die,” Prof M Anwarul Islam, the chief executive of Wildteam, told UNB.
He said, the severe food crisis also contributes to the decline in the vultures as a very few cattle die in the country each year. “However, when domestic animals die, farmers buried them.”
Prof M Anwarul Islam, also a teacher of Zoology Department at Dhaka University, said vultures make nests on large trees, but the number of such trees is now rare in Bangladesh. So, the habitat loss is playing a role in the extinction of the species.
Wildlife biologist Dr Monirul H Khan said the white-rumped vultures are critically endangered in Bangladesh and they will disappear soon if immediate measures are not taken to protect them.
According to a study conducted by Dr Monirul H Khan, a teacher of Zoology Department at Jahangirnagar University, showed that the white-rumped vulture has declined by about 60 percent during 2008 and 2012 in the country while 98 percent in the last two decades.
The total population of the white-rumped vulture in suitable habitats across the country shows that the total population has drastically declined from an estimate 1972 in 2008-2009 to 816 in 2011-2012.
IUCN vulture investigator ABM Sarowar Alam (Dipu) told UNB that the vultures are disparaging faster than the endangered species in the country. “The tiger population is also declining fast in Bangladesh, but the decline of vulture is faster.”
Although the government has already banned the veterinary diclofenac to protect the vulture from extinction, the drug is still available in the market and three other new NSAIDs-meloxicam, ketoprofen and sodium salicylate-are introduced for veterinary treatments, which are also harmful to vultures.
The study said the availability of diclofenac in drugstores has decreased by 37 percent but the availability of three the other new NSAIDs has increased.
