Vultures across Africa and Asia face catastrophic population declines from deliberate and incidental poisoning — causing agonizing deaths and ecosystem collapse.
Vulture poisoning causes horrific welfare outcomes. Diclofenac and other NSAIDs cause visceral gout in vultures — uric acid crystals precipitate in organs causing intense pain before death, typically within hours of eating a contaminated carcass. Deliberate carbofuran or other pesticide poisonings at kills cause rapid, convulsive death from neurotoxic effects. The number of individuals affected is enormous — poisoning events at single carcasses can kill 50–500 vultures simultaneously. Survivors of sublethal poisoning show neurological effects. The cascading ecosystem effects — disease spread, feral carnivore explosions — create additional animal welfare harms downstream of vulture population collapse.