Asian vultures could be extinct in the wild within 10 years unless a livestock drug blamed for their rapid demise is eliminated, scientists warn.
A survey showed that the population of the oriental white-backed vulture had crashed by 99.9% since 1992.
India has banned the manufacture of diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug for cattle, but it is still on sale to the nation's farmers, the team says.
The findings appear in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.
The researchers also found that the populations of long-billed vulture and slender-billed vulture had fallen by about 97% over the same period.
"Year on year, these two species are declining by about 16%," explained co-author Andrew Cunningham, from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
"This is pretty horrific but when you think that the white-backed vulture is declining by about 45-50% each year, that is truly staggering."
'Decade to save Asian vultures'
Asian vultures could be extinct in the wild within 10 years unless a livestock drug blamed for their rapid demise is eliminated, scientists warn.
A survey showed that the population of the oriental white-backed vulture had crashed by 99.9% since 1992.
India has banned the manufacture of diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug for cattle, but it is still on sale to the nation's farmers, the team says.
The findings appear in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.
The researchers also found that the populations of long-billed vulture and slender-billed vulture had fallen by about 97% over the same period.
"Year on year, these two species are declining by about 16%," explained co-author Andrew Cunningham, from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
"This is pretty horrific but when you think that the white-backed vulture is declining by about 45-50% each year, that is truly staggering."
