Vultures perform critical ecosystem services and face severe welfare and conservation threats from diclofenac poisoning, lead contamination, and intentional killing across their global range.
Vulture welfare crises operate at both individual and population scale. Lead-poisoned vultures experience neurological impairment, loss of coordination, and eventually inability to feed before death — a prolonged, distressing process. Mass poisoning events kill hundreds of individuals at once in acute poisoning episodes. Beyond individual suffering, population collapse threatens entire ecological functions, as vulture population decline allows disease spread and scavenging niche abandonment. Conservation and welfare interests strongly align in pressing for diclofenac bans, non-toxic ammunition, and stronger protections against intentional poisoning.