Vulture project shelved

The one crore rupee plan to breed vultures at Doongerwadi has been shelved by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), reported the Hindustan Times (HT) on May 26, 2007, quoting Asad Rahmani, director, Bombay Natural History Society. The reason: the already endangered vultures could end up dying too. "For now we have shelved the project since diclofenac will be present in human bodies,” explained BPP trustee Dinshaw Mehta. The painkiller’s veterinary use has been banned in India after scientists stated that vultures feeding on livestock carcasses with traces of the drug had died of kidney failure, with 97 percent of the vulture population lost since the 1990s.

Khojeste Mistree who had started a "Say no to diclofenac” campaign for Parsis blamed "political interest” for withdrawing the plan to breed vultures. According to Mehta, "It makes no sense till we come to an understanding with doctors not to prescribe drugs containing diclofenac.” Mistree countered with: "The diclofenac issue is just a ruse. Diclofenac stays in the body only for 72 hours after consumption.”