New restrictions on toxic veterinary drugs in Pakistan
Vulture populations in South Asia have collapsed by over 95% since the mid-1990s. The primary cause of this catastrophic decline and an ongoing threat is the ingestion by vultures of livestock carcasses containing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), principally diclofenac. Although diclofenac was banned from veterinary use in Pakistan, India and Nepal in 2006, other NSAIDs such as aceclofenac and ketoprofen still pose a major threat to critically endangered vultures.
We’ve partnered with WWF-Pakistan on the Pakistan Vulture Restoration Project (PVRP) to conserve vultures in Pakistan for the past 12 years. The project consists of a vulture breeding centre in Punjab province and a community-led vulture safe zone in Sindh province, where some of Pakistan’s last remaining colonies of critically endangered Asian White-backed Vultures and Long-billed Vultures are found.
The PVRP has continued lobbying for the removal of vulture-unsafe veterinary drugs. In a recent letter to the Department of Health for Sindh, the Secretary was urged to restrict the distribution of ketoprofen and aceclofenac in Sindh’s Vulture Safe Zone. As a result, the Chief Drug Inspector of Sindh ordered all regional and district drug inspectors to restrict the use of these drugs.
Muhammad Jamshed Iqbal at WWF-Pakistan said: “NSAIDs such as ketoprofen and aceclofenac have proven to be fatal for Gyps vultures in clinical trials and their restriction in the Sindh will contribute significantly in the survival of the remaining populations of Gyps vultures in Pakistan.”
This result is a momentous and positive development for vulture conservation in South Asia. Sindh is a vitally important breeding site for South Asia’s endangered vulture populations.
WWF-Pakistan and the Trust work together to deliver the objectives of the PVRP, which is underpinned by research and aims to conserve four vulture species in Pakistan, three of which are critically endangered. The PVRP is a core member of SAVE (Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction), the conservation consortium created to oversee and coordinate the recovery of South Asia’s vultures.
Dr Campbell Murn, our Head of Conservation and Research, said: “With action being taken to restrict aceclofenac and ketoprofen in Pakistan, we hope this will prove to be an important influence on similar efforts in other countries in South Asia, leading to the change that is needed to protect vulture populations in the region”.
As scavengers, vultures have an important ecological role and their population declines have serious consequences for humans and the environment. Their most important role is removing carcasses of animals that would otherwise be left to rot. This waste removal service controls the populations of disease-carrying scavengers and reduces hazards to human health.
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category . |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
_GRECAPTCHA | 5 months 27 days | This cookie is set by the Google recaptcha service to identify bots to protect the website against malicious spam attacks. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
player | 1 year | Vimeo uses this cookie to save the user's preferences when playing embedded videos from Vimeo. |
ServerPool | session | This cookie is set by the provider Tripadvisor. This cookie is used for user tracking and viewing embedded contents from TripAdvisor like payment of referral commission fees etc. |
sp_landing | 1 day | The sp_landing is set by Spotify to implement audio content from Spotify on the website and also registers information on user interaction related to the audio content. |
sp_t | 1 year | The sp_t cookie is set by Spotify to implement audio content from Spotify on the website and also registers information on user interaction related to the audio content. |
TASession | session | This cookie is set by the provider Tripadvisor. This cookie is used for user tracking and viewing embedded contents from TripAdvisor like payment of referral commission fees etc. |
TASSK | 5 months 27 days | This cookie is set by the provider Tripadvisor. This cookie is used for viewing embedded contents to the visitor from Tripadvisor. It also helps to know whether the visitor had clicked on the advertisement, to collect payment from the Tripadvisor. |
TATravelInfo | 14 days | This cookie is set by the provider Tripadvisor. This cookie is used for viewing contents and ads from Tripadvisor, which in return helps to earn money from Tripadvisor if the visitor has clicked the ads. |
__cf_bm | 30 minutes | This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
sync_active | never | This cookie is set by Vimeo and contains data on the visitor's video-content preferences, so that the website remembers parameters such as preferred volume or video quality. |
__smVID | 1 month | Sumo sets this cookie for sign-up prompt purposes when visitors visit a website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
CONSENT | 2 years | YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data. |
TADCID | 10 years | Tripadvisor sets this cookie to store a unique ID for users, to help them view embedded content from Tripadvisor. |
vuid | 2 years | Vimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos to the website. |
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_gat_gtag_UA_20364160_1 | 1 minute | Set by Google to distinguish users. |
_ga_1MTNP1Z1FC | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
fr | 3 months | Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. |
SRT | session | This cookie is set by the provider Tripadvisor. This is a Tripadvisor session cookie used for advertising purposes. |
TACds | 2 months | This cookie is set by the provider TripAdvisor. This cookie is used for showing travel information and ads based on the user preferences. |
TART | 5 days | This cookie is set by the provider Tripadvisor. This cookie is used for viewing contents and ads from Tripadvisor, which in return helps to earn money from Tripadvisor if the visitor has clicked the ads. |
TAUD | 14 days | This cookie is set by the provider Tripadvisor. This is Tripadvisor session cookie used for advertising purposes. |
TAUnique | 2 years | This cookie is set by the provider TripAdvisor. This cookie is used for showing travel information and ads based on the user preferences. |
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 5 months 27 days | A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. |
YSC | session | YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. |
yt-remote-connected-devices | never | YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. |
yt-remote-device-id | never | YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. |
yt.innertube::nextId | never | This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. |
yt.innertube::requests | never | This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. |
_fbp | 3 months | This cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
loglevel | never | No description available. |
PMC | 2 years | No description |
TASID | 30 minutes | No description |
_dc_gtm_UA-20364160-1 | 1 minute | No description |
__smSessionId | 9 hours | No description available. |
__smToken | 1 year | This cookie is set by the Sumo. This cookie is used for verifying whether the user is logged in or not. |
__vt | 1 hour | No description |