The NSAID diclofenac was found to have been at the root of the mass mortality of three species of Gyps vultures on the Indian subcontinent over the last decade or so. The vultures were exposed by feeding on carcasses of animals that had been administered the drug to alleviate lameness and increase their productive working life. Measures are now being taken to phase diclofenac from the agricultural ecosystem. However, other NSAIDs are also given to livestock animals, and scavenging birds of prey in agricultural landscapes worldwide may be exposed to these as well.
The outcome from exposure to diclofenac may represent an extreme example. However, in the event that other NSAIDs are found to cause adverse effects to scavenging species, our research team seeks to develop a method of detecting this class of compound in feathers as well as in animal hair. The method has a number of potential applications, some of them to do with mitigating exposure. Because drug residues persist in hair (and, we believe in feathers) far longer than they do in tissues, exposure to the drug could be verified in carcasses received in poor condition, where this would not normally be possible. The method could also be used to pre-test carcass meat put out as food during conservation/reintroduction efforts and at rehabilitation facilities for safety. Finally, this method can provide complimentary information to evaluate why some species seem to be more tolerant than others to NSAID exposure.
Looking at exposure possibilities of different species to a variety of drugs in a variety of agricultural settings, we hope to develop a sampling and laboratory analysis protocol that can be adapted by country and by species. We now have a number of collaborators here in the United Kingdom, including the Welsh Kite Trust (who_supplied feathers from around 100 kite territories distributed throughout Wales), as well as some potential collaborators in North and South America. We will be attending an upcoming international conference in Greece this November: 'Conservation and Management of Vulture Populations' to learn more about the status of vultures in agricultural communities in eastern Europe, and we hope to involve more collaborators.
What we really need at this stage are samples from animals known to have been dosed with NSAIDs. If you are aware of any such studies involving livestock animals or birds of prey, we would be very grateful to receive samples for analysis.
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