On the same day that a EU public consultation on the use of veterinary diclofenac (a non-steroid non-inflammatory drug NSAID) in Europe and its potential impact on vultures closed (see http://www.4vultures.org/our-work/campaigning-to-ban-diclofenac-in-europe/ for VCF´s contribution), a new paper was published online on Conservation Biology with evidence that a Griffon vulture in Spain had died due to high levels of flunixin (another NSAID licensed for veterinary use in the EU). The authors suggested that this vulture died after scavenging on a dead agricultural animal that had been treated with flunixin prior to its death.
This is the first reported case of a wild vulture being exposed to and killed by any NSAID outside Asia – it is also the first instance of wild mortality resulting from any NSAID other than diclofenac globally. This case also provides clear and indisputable evidence that medicated carcasses are currently available to and being consumed by scavenging birds in Europe, and reinforces the VCF calls for a ban on veterinary diclofenac use within Europe. You can download the paper below.
1st evidence of vulture killed in Europe by NSAID Fluxinin Zorrila et al Cons Biol 2014.pd Adobe Acrobat Document 333.4 KB Download
