The decline in Gyps vulture populations in South Asia, caused by the use of diclofenac in livestock, has disrupted scavenging services, leading to increased public health risks and higher costs for managing carcasses. While diclofenac has been banned, vulture populations remain critically low, prompting calls for captive-breeding programs and the establishment of Vulture Safe Zones (VSZs). This study conducts a cost–benefit analysis of these conservation efforts, comparing the societal benefits of natural scavenging with the costs of captive breeding and reintroduction. The results strongly support continued investment in vulture conservation to restore their ecological role.
The widespread use of diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, in livestock has caused a drastic decline in Gyps vulture populations across South Asia. This loss disrupted scavenging services, leading to a rise in feral dog populations and associated health risks for humans and wildlife, as well as increased public spending to manage livestock carcasses. In response, government-funded carcass-rendering plants have been set up to replace these lost services. Although diclofenac has been banned for veterinary use in India and vulture-safe alternatives introduced, the critically low vulture populations have not recovered naturally. As a result, there is growing advocacy for captive-breeding and the safe release of Gyps vultures to revive their populations, but these initiatives remain underfunded and limited in scope.
This study conducts a cost–benefit analysis of India’s vulture captive-breeding programs using a replacement cost approach. It calculates the cost of carcass-rendering plants as the societal benefit vultures traditionally provided and compares it to the costs of vulture conservation efforts, including captive breeding, release, and the establishment of Vulture Safe Zones (VSZs). The analysis estimates the lifetime scavenging value of a single vulture to be USD 4457 to 4047 in urban areas and USD 3825 to 3357 in rural areas, with annual scavenging services worth USD 235 to 187. Despite some data limitations leading to underestimation, the benefit-cost ratios overwhelmingly support investment in captive breeding and VSZs to stabilize vulture populations and restore their natural ecological role in carcass disposal.
