1. Loss of India's vultures may have led to deaths of half a million people.
- Author
-
La, Vivian
- Subjects
VULTURES ,FERAL dogs ,BIRDS of prey ,BIOLOGICAL extinction ,WATER quality management - Abstract
A new study has found that the near-extinction of vultures in India in the 1990s led to the spread of disease-carrying pathogens, resulting in the deaths of over half a million people from 2000 to 2005. The loss of vultures caused an excess of dead animals, which allowed diseases to proliferate. The study estimates that the related public health crisis caused nearly $70 billion in damages each year. Vultures play a crucial role in India's ecosystems by cleaning up carcasses and reducing the populations of other scavengers. The decline of vultures was caused by the use of a drug called diclofenac, which was poisonous to the birds. The study highlights the importance of addressing species loss to prevent similar crises in the future. [Extracted from the article]
- Published
- 2024