Des vautours de Street Dogs - une diminution spectaculaire des vautours à l'échelle du sous-continent a connu une augmentation dans la population de chiens.
2500 x 1610 px | 21,2 x 13,6 cm | 8,3 x 5,4 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
2008
Lieu:
Rajasthan India
Informations supplémentaires:
Cette image peut avoir des imperfections car il s’agit d’une image historique ou de reportage.
Across India the most unprecedented decline of any species on the planet has occurred giving rise to great concern for human health and well being throughout the country. By the late 1980’s the Oriental White-backed vultures were so numerous they were considered the most abundant bird of prey in the world, but today along with two other species, the Long-billed and the Slender-billed vultures their numbers have crashed from well over 40 million birds to a mere few thousand, all largely due to the pain killing ‘wonder drug’ Diclofenac. Even if veterinary Diclofenac was ‘completely out of the market place’ human Diclofenac is not and proves just as toxic for vultures so when many pharmacies from rural areas to New Delhi are still proscribing pain relief for a cow with a limp containing Diclofenac the future for the few remaining vultures would seem extremely bleak indeed. Meloxicam is a non steroid anti inflammatory drug which has been found to be a safe alternative to the drug Diclofenac. Cows and buffalo are very much part of India’s landscape and for many people they play a very important role in their religious beliefs hence when an animal dies it is generally taken away to a ‘carcass dump’ and left for the elements to dispose of . Seventy to eighty vultures would feed on a carcass stripping the flesh clean to the bone in less than twenty minutes. Today with the absence of vultures and so many putrefying carcasses there is growing concern for human health and well being across India, not only pollution of air, soil and water but the rise in zoonotic diseases such as rabies. “Over 50% of deaths due to rabies occur in India, more than 25 000 case annually”.
