Impact on Veterinary Painkiller (Diclofenac) on Black Vulture

The Cinereous Vulture, Aegypius monachus, formerly known as the Black Vulture, is classified as near-threatened at world level (Collar et al. 1994). A. monachus is widely distributed, with a continuous range extending from Europe and North Africa through the Middle East to Mongolia and China (Appak, 1992). It has since been extirpated in most of its European range. Its only remaining stronghold in Europe is in Spain. Populations exist in Greece (20 pairs), Bulgaria (1-2 pairs), Turkey (100-500 pairs), Mallorca (70 birds; 4-5 pairs), and France (4 pairs). The entire European population is estimated at between 1,100 and 1,500 pairs (Edward, 1998). There is little data regarding its status in the East but it is the largest of the Old World raptors. The Cinereous Vulture is popularly known in Tibet as “XiaGuo” or “Dog-headed Vulture” and in Northern China as “Mountain Eagle”, “Gucha” in Qinghai. Records of it being kept in parks date back over a long time, but give no data on breeding. It is also called “Hairless Vulture”, due to the naked appearance of the head and neck, covered with brown plumules. In the Tibet region the names “God Bird”, and in Mongolia “Grand Eagle” show that it is an object of religious veneration (Ye Xiao-Ti, 1991).