Forest officials are of the opinion that the three White-rumped vultures that were found dead on the IIM-A campus last week probably died of some “unknown disease” and not due to Diclofenac (cattle feed). A postmortem was conducted on Saturday on the carcasses at the Van Chetna Kendra at Vastrapur and the report will be out on Monday or Tuesday, said a senior forest official.

Deputy Conservator of Forests (Ahmedabad) G Ramana Murthy said Diclofenac is probably not the cause of death, as it is not directly fatal but rather leads to several complications in the endangered scavenger birds depending on the level of chemical present in cattle feed. Vultures feeding on carcasses of such cattle ingest the chemical, leading to their deaths.

“Low quantities of Diclofenac are usually excreted, but its high quantity can lead to trauma and visceral gout. Sometimes, vulture eggshells are thin, which brings down their chance of survival,” Murthy said.

However, he pointed out that the postmortem of a White-rumped vulture in the city three months ago had found no traces of Diclofenac, and the cause of death was concluded to be due to an “unknown disease”.

Murthy said the same may be the case with the three dead birds this time, but that it would be clear only after the reports come out.

The last census of vultures was conducted by the Forest Department in 2004-2005 and the population was found to be between 1,400 and 1,500, Murthy said. In Ahmedabad, the population was about 25 to 30, which, according to Murthy, has more or less remained static.

... contd.