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Languages & Literature
Pakistan
World & History
A large scavenging vulture whose numbers in Pakistan crashed by more than 95% in a few years.
Vultures clean the environment by eating the carcasses of dead animals, helping to stop the spread of disease.
In the 1990s and 2000s vultures across South Asia began dying of kidney failure. Scientists discovered the cause: diclofenac, a painkiller given to cattle, which poisoned the vultures that ate the dead animals.
Pakistan banned diclofenac for veterinary use in 2006. Captive breeding centres and vulture-safe zones have been set up to help the remaining birds recover.