Nimesulide poisoning in white-rumped vulture Gyps bengalensis in Gujarat, India

Population of white-rumped vulture has not recovered in India to a desired level even after diclofenac was banned in 2006. During 2019, there were two known separate incidents of white-rumped vulture mortality involving four white-rumped vultures in Gujarat. After post-mortem examinations, tissues of all four vultures were received for toxicological investigation at the National Centre for Avian Ecotoxicology, SACON. Tissues were screened for a set of toxic pesticides, and none of them was at detectable level. Subsequently, the tissues were analysed for thirteen NSAIDs and paracetamol. Of all the drugs tested, only nimesulide was detected in all the tissues (17-1395 ng/g) indicative of exposure. Visceral gout was also observed in all the four vultures during post-mortem. Residues of nimesulide in tissues with symptoms of gout indicated that the vultures died due to nimesulide poisoning. Although, other than diclofenac, many NSAIDs are suspected to be toxic to white-rumped vultures, only nimesulide is reported in the recent past with clear symptom of gout in wild dead white-rumped vultures similar to diclofenac. Since, nimesulide appears to act similar to diclofenac in exerting toxic effects, if veterinary use of nimesulide continues, white-rumped vulture are bound to suffer. Hence, it is recommended that nimesulide should be banned by the government to conserve white-rumped vulture in the Indian subcontinent. Further, an effective system is recommended to be put in place to collect the tissues of dead vultures for toxicological investigations and eventual conservation of the critically endangered species.

Automated summary

Although the population of white-rumped vultures in India has not recovered to desired levels after the ban of diclofenac in 2006, two incidents in Gujarat in 2019 highlighted the continued threat to the species. Toxicological investigations revealed that nimesulide may have been responsible for the deaths of the vultures, indicating the need for further conservation efforts and a potential ban on the veterinary use of nimesulide to protect the critically endangered species.