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Title
Toxicity of diclofenac to Gyps vultures
Author(s)
Swan G.E., Cuthbert R., Quevedo M., Green R.E., Pain D.J., Bartels P., Cunningham A.A., Duncan N., Meharg A.A., Oaks J.L., Parry-Jones J., Shultz S., Taggart M.A., Verdoorn G., Wolter K.
Published
2006
Publisher
Biology Letters
Published Version DOI
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2005.0425
Abstract
Three endemic vulture species Gyps bengalensis, Gyps indicus and Gyps tenuirostris are critically endangered following dramatic declines in South Asia resulting from exposure to diclofenac, a veterinary drug present in the livestock carcasses that they scavenge. Diclofenac is widely used globally and could present a risk to Gyps species from other regions. In this study, we test the toxicity of diclofenac to a Eurasian (Gyps fulvus) and an African (Gyps africanus) species, neither of which is threatened. A dose of 0.8mg kg -1 of diclofenac was highly toxic to both species, indicating that they are at least as sensitive to diclofenac as G. bengalensis, for which we estimate an LD50 of 0.1-0.2 mg kg-1. We suggest that diclofenac is likely to be toxic to all eight Gyps species, and that G. africanus, which is phylogenetically close to G. bengalensis, would be a suitable surrogate for the safety testing of alternative drugs to diclofenac. © 2006 The Royal Society.
Keywords
diclofenac; bird; dose-response relationship; drug; livestock; scavenging (feeding); toxicity; animal experiment; article; bird; drug sensitivity; gyps africanus; gyps fulvus; nonhuman; priority journal; teratogenicity; Acute Toxicity Tests; Alanine Transaminase; Animals; Diclofenac; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Extinction, Biological; Falconiformes; Lethal Dose 50; Uric Acid; Veterinary Drugs; Asia; Eurasia; South Asia; Gyps; Gyps africanus; Gyps bengalensis; Gyps fulvus; Gyps indicus; Gyps tenuirostris
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PUB12215