Considerations and Notes

• Diclofenac breaks down in the body after about 3 days, and is then completely out of the system.  Breakdown ceases once the livestock is dead.
• It is possible to build up a resistance to diclofenac.  Therefore you would need to take increasingly higher doses over time to feel the pain-killing effects.
• Diclofenac is not just for animals.  Its primary role is as an anti-inflammatory for humans, and it is sold in worldwide markets, including the US.
• Livestock owners will have the added expense of burning the carcasses of dead animals now that vultures are not present to clean the bones.
• The Peregrine Fund scientists currently operate a “vulture restaurant” where vultures can come for a fresh, uncontaminated carcass.  It works well during breeding season when the birds are tied to nest sites.  In the non-breeding season, however, fewer vultures visit the restaurant regularly.
• People of the Parsi religion came up with a non-vulture solution to their problem.  They constructed huge solar discs on the Towers of Silence.  These discs reflect sunlight to desiccate the bodies.  This process takes longer than having vultures pick the bodies clean, but does not conflict with Parsi religious beliefs.
• So far, only one state in India officially banned diclofenac.  The difficulty lies in getting government officials to see the gravity of the situation and cutting through the legal red-tape.
• Ninety percent of veterinarians and pharmacists in India are funded by the government.  Therefore, if diclofenac were banned, only 10% of vets would be able to prescribe diclofenac.
• Despite efforts to get the word out about the Asian Vulture Crisis, many local people still do not know that there is a problem, and many local vets do not know of the hazards associated with prescribing diclofenac.  Mass dissemination of information is, logistically, more complicated in these Asian countries due to the local citizens’ limited access to modern communication.