Vulture populations worldwide are in dramatic decline, with populations in south Asia, India, Pakistan, Bhutan and Nepal experiencing declines of 95-99 percent.

In 2003, the cause of these declines was shown to be the non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) Diclofenac, a drug often used to treat sick livestock. When any residue of the drug remains in the tissue of dead livestock, vultures that eat that tissue almost invariably die.

The National Aviary initiated surveys in Kazakhstan because we feared that vulture populations in the former Soviet Union could also be impacted by Diclofenac. Furthermore, the massive economic changes in the former Soviet Union over the past 15 years have resulted in dramatic drops in the numbers of domestic and wild ungulates (hoofed animals), the primary food source for vultures.

Our approach involves use of new use non-invasive collection techniques for feathers (samples collected without capturing or handling birds), genetic analysis, and mark-recapture statistical models to estimate population size and survivorship rates for vultures in specific regions of Kazakhstan. We are also expanding this project to Cambodia, where remnant populations of several South Asian species still persist.