Livestock drug killing vultures

LONDON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Researchers say a widely used livestock pain killer could endanger the survival of vultures around the world.

A study for the British Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says the drug diclofenac is to blame for the rapid decline of Indian vulture populations, the BBC reported.

Diclofenac, used to treat inflammation in cattle, is highly toxic to vultures who feed off contaminated livestock carcasses.

Oriental white-backed vultures were once the most common large bird of prey in the world but they have become almost extinct in India in just a matter of years, the BBC reported.

The long-billed vulture and the slender-billed vulture have also seen dramatic declines.

The new study, led by Deborah Pain and published in Biology Letters, shows the drug is just as deadly to other closely related vulture species.