The April issue of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) e-bulletin reports on the recent comeback of Asian vultures, after a large-scale decline due to veterinary use of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac.
The vultures ingested the drug by eating carcasses of cattle that had been treated with the drug.
2 May 2012: The April 2012 issue of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) e-bulletin highlights: a call for proposals from the “SOS-Save Our Species” coalition; a workshop on the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES); conservation news on vultures; and Specialist Group news.
The Bulletin notes that SOS will invite applications for Threatened Species Grants that respond to one of four strategic directions: threatened tropical Asian vertebrates; threatened small marine mammals; threatened cycads; and threatened freshwater African animals.
According to this issue of the Bulletin, the forthcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress will include a session addressing how the IPBES can make the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species more responsive to decision makers’ concerns, and how improving the impact of the Red List could be used as an achievement for IPBES.
The Bulletin also includes two stories on vultures. The first, on Asian vultures, highlights their recent comeback, after a large-scale decline due to veterinary use of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac. The vultures ingested the drug by eating carcasses of cattle that had been treated with the drug. The second story, on African vultures and the Pan-African Vulture Summit, calls on governments to conserve and reduce threats to vultures.
Among Specialist Group news, the Bulletin takes note of a new collaboration between the Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy and the SSC. The Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group, or SULi, is a cross-Commissional Specialist Group focused on the sustainable use of wild living resources. [Publication: IUCN SSC Species E-Bulletin, April 2012]