diclofenac

Ever since he realised that vultures were vanishing from the countryside, this conservationist from Coimbatore has been working tirelessly to create awareness about the ecological disaster that has left these iconic scavengers teetering on the edge of extinction.

The Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra has a vulture restaurant meant to protect the winged natural cleaners and give them the best meals of their lives - animal carcasses that have been tested, verified and made available at one place. This is how it came into existence.

India took an important step last week towards saving some critically endangered vulture species from extinction. It banned the use of large doses of diclonefac, a drug that is given to cattle but which kills vultures when they eat the animal carcasses. The good news came just ahead of International Vulture Day, which is celebrated today