Vultures are in global crisis due to poisoning, persecution, and electrocution, with their decline having cascading welfare consequences for the ecosystems that depend on their scavenging services.
Vultures die from poisoning in ways that cause prolonged suffering. Secondary poisoning from organophosphates or other pesticides causes neurological symptoms including seizures, paralysis, and respiratory failure that can take hours to kill. Diclofenac caused visceral gout in vultures - a condition involving uric acid crystals depositing in organs causing intense pain before death. Lead poisoning from bullet fragments consumed with carcasses causes progressive neurological deterioration over days. Electrocuted vultures die immediately or survive with severe wing burns and amputations requiring rehabilitation. The loss of vultures from ecosystems also indirectly increases welfare harm to other animals by allowing disease from unprocessed carcasses to spread more widely.