The Vulture Emergency – Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) risks to Health and Biodiversity

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) are essential veterinary drugs and are commonly used worldwide to alleviate pain, reduce inflammation, and lower fever in animals, including livestock. While the NSAIDs, meloxicam and tolfenamic acid have been found to be safe, several other NSAIDs are known to be highly toxic to various scavenging raptor species (both vultures and large eagles) and may pose risks to other wildlife. The toxicity of other NSAIDs in widespread use is unknown. NSAIDs, and particularly diclofenac toxicity, was identified as the main cause of the catastrophic collapse of vulture populations across South Asia which started in the 1990s.