Cases / Law, regulation and treaties · India · 2000–2023
Veterinary drug linked to India's vulture collapse and extra human deaths
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
A drug used in animal treatment is reported to have collapsed vulture populations in India, and a 2024 estimate put extra human deaths at more than 100,000 a year. The sources reviewed do not name the drug.
What?
A veterinary drug is reported to have collapsed India's vulture populations. AER (EPIC)
Where?
India. AER (EPIC)
When?
The estimate covers 2000–2005. AER (EPIC)
Who?
Gained
None on recordLost
None on recordHarmed
- Vulture populations in India — collapsed after poisoning linked to a veterinary drug AER (EPIC)
- People in India (estimated) — estimated more than 100,000 additional deaths a year, 2000–2005 AER (EPIC)
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Vultures were poisoned by a drug used in animal treatment; the cause was identified in 2004 and the drug banned in 2006. BirdLife International
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
A 2024 study by AER (EPIC) estimated that the vulture decline in India was linked to more than 100,000 additional human deaths a year over 2000–2005.
BirdLife reported that the cause of vulture poisoning was identified in 2004 and the drug banned in 2006, while two equally toxic drugs were banned only in 2023.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- None on record The drug is not named in the sources reviewed.
- None on record Who sold, used or gained from the drug is not stated.
- None on record Vulture population counts and the length of the decline are not given.
- None on record The 100,000 figure is an estimate, not a count of deaths.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers
Communities and civil society
- Bans on two more veterinary drugs linked to vulture deaths in IndiaBirdLife International · 2023