Non Availability of critical Scavenger underscores the critical link between biodiversity and human health

पृथ्वी संतरणात् संतु नः पुन्या पुन्येन वातः । पुन्येन अध्युष्ट पुन्या पृथ्वी पुन्येन संतु नः ॥

Humans excessive intervention has disturbed entire ecosystem of the mother nature. Humans are so selfish that considers themselves the only heirs of the mother nature and forgets about the other creatures. All living identities other than humans are on the verge of extinction. And in relation to this there is a recent study that has depicted that in the Bharat there is an observation that quantity of vultures has been reduced to greater extent. This significant drop in vulture populations in India has resulted in a severe public health crisis, potentially leading to up to half a million premature deaths between 2000 and 2005. The absence of these essential scavengers underscores the critical link between biodiversity and human health. 

The American Economic Review published this study, which estimates the annual economic impact of the related health crisis at nearly $70 billion. A study has revealed the devastating impact of India's vulture population collapse on human health and how it could have contributed to thousands of deaths.

 Role of Vultures in Indian Ecosystems :-

Vultures do not kill their own prey, they feed on dead animals. As scavengers, vultures play an important role in the ecosystem by decomposing the dead animal matter, cleaning the environment and reducing the spread of diseases.

Vultures play a crucial role in India's ecosystems. They are significant in managing disease and ceasing the spreading of illness/ailments by consuming dead animals, thus preventing the spread of diseases from other scavengers, such as feral dogs, which can carry rabies. Vultures eata the dead animals in minimal span thus restricting the spreading of the disease in a specified time bound. Even Without vultures, farmers have been forced to dispose of dead livestock in waterways, exacerbating the spread of disease. 

Impact of Diclofenac on Vultures

The decline in vulture numbers began in 1994 when the veterinary drug diclofenac, used for treating livestock, was found to be toxic to vultures. India's vultures began dying because of a drug used to treat sick cows. This drug caused severe kidney damage in the birds, leading to a drastic reduction in their population from 50 million to just a few thousand within a decade. The primary cause was the ingestion of diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug toxic to vultures. This drug led to kidney failure, visceral gout, and death among the birds. The Indian government banned diclofenac in 2006.  Other hypotheses put forward for the vulture declines include; reduced food availability, increased numbers of dogs, and habitat destruction. 

Anant Sudarshan, Associate Professor at the University of Warwick and Senior Fellow at EPIC, and Eyal Frank, an environmental economist at the University of Chicago, conducted the study. They analyzed health records from over 600 districts and overlaid these with maps of historical vulture habitats. Their research took into account variables such as water quality and healthcare access to assess the health impacts related to the decline in vulture populations.

Worse impact on the health of human population:- 

Humans have disturbed the 'Nature’s sanitation service’ very badly and abruptly.

As per BBC, they found an increase in the sale of anti-inflammatory drugs and a spike in death rates of over four per cent in areas where the vulture population had declined.

They also found the greatest spike in deaths occurred in urban areas with large livestock populations and carcass dumps. Without vultures, a large number of animal carcasses were left to rot posing a serious risk to human health by providing a potential breeding ground for infectious germs and proliferation of pests such as rats. In their absence, carcasses of dead animals spend time out in the open or are disposed by farmers in water, both of which create an increased risk of disease and water pollution

Ways to regain the vultures population :- 

Some significant ways need to be taken so that very important scavengers can be returned to our world this balancing the ecosystem 

@ Develop conducive environment for vulture conservation in larger community and Government Departments and systems.

@ Advocating vulture conservation for systemic changes through local and state level schemes and build replicable models. 

@ Decrease in usage of veterinary diclofenac medicines

@ Public-private mechanisms providing incentives for vulture nest protection in the Region

@ Sensitization and awareness on vulture conservation in the villages at several region, in particular villages wherein vulture activity is reported.

@ Educate yourself about vultures, and become an advocate!