Populations of oriental white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus) and slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris) crashed during the mid-1990s throughout the Indian subcontinent. Surveys in India, initially conducted in 1991–1993 and repeated in 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007, revealed that the population of Gyps bengalensis had fallen by 2007 to 0.1% of its numbers in the early 1990s, with the population of Gyps indicus and G. tenuirostris combined having fallen to 3.2% of its earlier level. A survey of G. bengalensis in western Nepal indicated that the size of the population in 2009 was 25% of that in 2002. In this paper, repeat surveys conducted in 2011 were analysed to estimate recent population trends. Populations of all three species of vulture remained at a low level, but the decline had slowed and may even have reversed for G. bengalensis, both in India and Nepal. However, estimates of the most recent population trends are imprecise, so it is possible that declines may be continuing, though at a significantly slower rate. The degree to which the decline of G. bengalensis in India has slowed is consistent with the expected effects on population trend of a measured change in the level of contamination of ungulate carcasses with the drug diclofenac, which is toxic to vultures, following a ban on its veterinary use in 2006. The most recent available information indicates that the elimination of diclofenac from the vultures’ food supply is incomplete, so further efforts are required to fully implement the ban.

SummaryThree species of resident Gyps vulture are threatened with extinction in South Asia due to the contamination of domestic ungulate carcasses with the drug diclofenac. Observed rates of population decrease are among the highest recorded for any bird species, leading to total declines in excess of 99.9% for the Oriental White-backed Vulture Gyps bengalensis in India between 1992 and 2007. Vultures have declined in Nepal, but quantitative information on the rate and scale of decreases is unavailable. Road transect surveys for vultures, following the same route, methodology and timing, were undertaken in lowland areas of Nepal for seven years from 2002 to 2011. The seven survey transects followed Nepal's East-West highway and covered 1,010 km in three years of the survey, and 638 km in the remaining four years. Slender-billed Vultures G. tenuirostris were very scarce, with a maximum of five individuals in 2002 and none recorded in 2010 and 2011. Oriental White-backed Vultures were most commonly recorded, but decreased from 205 to 68 birds over the survey period, with an estimated annual rate of decline of 14% a year. If population decreases commenced in Nepal in the same year as in India, then Whitebacked Vultures in Nepal have declined by 91% since the mid-1990s. Few resident Gyps vultures remained in Eastern and Central regions of Nepal, with just one, nine and six birds recorded in the three surveys that covered these regions. The majority of threatened Gyps vultures in lowland Nepal are now found in Western and Mid Western regions, where conservation efforts have been focused in the last six years. Removing veterinary diclofenac from across the country and continuing to manage effective "vulture safe zones" are essential to conserve Nepal's remaining vulture populations.

SummaryPopulations of Critically Endangered White-rumped Gyps bengalensis and Slender-billed G. tenuirostris Vultures in Nepal declined rapidly during the 2000s, almost certainly because of the effects of the use in livestock of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, which is nephrotoxic to Gyps vultures. In 2006, veterinary use of diclofenac was banned in Nepal and this was followed by the gradual implementation, over most of the geographical range of the two vulture species in Nepal, of a Vulture Safe Zone (VSZ) programme to advocate vulture conservation, raise awareness about diclofenac, provide vultures with NSAID-free food and encourage the veterinary use in livestock of a vulture-safe alternative NSAID (meloxicam). We report the results of long-term monitoring of vulture populations in Nepal before and after this programme was implemented, by means of road transects. Piecewise regression analysis of the count data indicated that a rapid decline of the White-rumped Vulture population from 2002 up to about 2013 gave way to a partial recovery between about 2013 and 2018. More limited data for the Slender-billed Vulture indicated that a rapid decline also gave way to partial recovery from about 2012 onwards. The rates at which populations were increasing in the 2010s exceeded the upper end of the range of increase rates expected in a closed population under optimal conditions. The possibility that immigration from India is contributing to the changes cannot be excluded. We present evidence from open and undercover pharmacy surveys that the VSZ programme had apparently become effective in reducing the availability of diclofenac in a large part of the range of these species in Nepal by about 2011. Hence, community-based advocacy and awareness-raising actions, and possibly also provisioning of safe food, may have made an important contribution to vulture conservation by augmenting the effects of changes in the regulation of toxic veterinary drugs.

SummaryThe Upper Mustang region of Nepal holds important breeding populations of Himalayan Griffon Gyps himalayensis. Despite this species being considered ‘Least Concern’ on the IUCN Red List, the population in Upper Mustang had declined substantially in the early to mid-2000s. During that period, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac was commonly used to treat illness and injury in domesticated ungulates throughout Nepal. The timing and magnitude of declines in Himalayan Griffon in Upper Mustang resemble the declines in resident populations of the ‘Critically Endangered’ White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis and Slender-billed Vulture Gyps tenuirostris in Nepal, both of which are also known to be highly sensitive to diclofenac. Since 2006, the veterinary use of diclofenac has been banned in Nepal to prevent further vulture declines. In this paper, we analyse the population trend in Himalayan Griffon in Upper Mustang between 2002 and 2014 and show a partial recovery. We conclude that the decline is now occurring at a slower rate than previously observed and immigration from areas where diclofenac was either not or rarely used the probable explanation for the recovery observed.

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<p>There is evidence that Himalayan Vulture <em>Gyps himalayensis</em> is susceptible to the veterinary drug diclofenac, which is responsible for the decline of other <em>Gyps </em>species across South Asia.  Unlike other <em>Gyps </em>species, there is little quantitative data to assess Himalayan Vultures population.  Based on observation, we analyzed the flock size and breeding success of the Himalayan Vultures on two cliffs of Khodpe in Baitadi District, far-west Nepal.  The mean flock size of Himalayan Vulture was 25.83±6.33.  Overall breeding success was 90.9% based on active nests.  We also conducted a questionnaire survey to assess the perceived threats in the view of local people to vultures and these threats include loss of food, veterinary drug, lack of proper nest sites, and lack of public awareness.  Additionally, 76% of the respondents felt that vultures were decreasing in the area, 94.7% were not aware of the toxicity of diclofenac to vultures, and very few (2%) knew about the availability of meloxicam as a safe alternative drug.  The colony we studied is one of the few remaining known breeding populations, which provide baseline information from far-west Nepal, thus we recommend for conservation and continuous monitoring of this species to understand their population change and breeding biology.</p><div> </div>

The interactive effects of climate and human socioeconomic factors on biodiversity in the Anthropocene may be studied most effectively from a social-ecological perspective. Climate can affect avian abundance, and socioeconomics may affect the human propensity to contribute to conservation. Yet, little is known about how these two factors interact to affect species. We assessed the relative influence of within-scale (landscape) and cross-scale (region-landscape) interaction effects of breeding-season temperature and four socioeconomic variables (percent female, percent college educated, median age, and median income) on the relative abundance of eight forest bird species in the Eastern Temperate Forest Ecoregion of North America. We used negative binomial regression to model relative abundance over three years. Akaike's Information Criterion for small sample sizes (AICc) was used to rank a set of nine a priori models for each combination of species and socioeconomic variable. Of the 32 best-supported models, seven included informative within-scale interactions and three additional models included informative cross-scale interactions, indicating that the relationships between species' relative abundance and socioeconomic variables varied for different levels of temperature. Our results suggest that interactions were generally less influential than were climate, socioeconomic, and habitat variables. Distinct responses to interactions were not evident between habitat groups or between wintering groups. Interactions between human socioeconomic variables and breeding-season temperature at different spatial scales can affect forest bird abundance in species-specific ways. Ignoring the effects of interactions on broad-scale patterns of avian abundance may result in misleading interpretations about additive effects and, consequently, ineffective use of limited conservation resources. Effets interactifs dans l'échelle et inter-échelles entre la température et les conditions socioéconomiques humaines sur l'abondance de la faune aviaire RÉSUMÉ. Les effets interactifs du climat et des facteurs socioéconomiques humains sur la biodiversité au cours de la période Anthropocène peuvent être étudiés particulièrement efficacement du point de vue socio-écologique. Le climat peut affecter l'abondance de la faune aviaire et les aspects socioéconomiques peuvent influer sur la propension humaine à contribuer à la conservation. Pourtant, on ne sait que peu de choses sur la manière dont ces deux facteurs interagissent pour affecter les espèces. Nous avons évalué l'influence relative des effets des interactions dans l'échelle (paysage) et horst-échelle (région-paysage) de la température pendant la saison de reproduction et de quatre variables socioéconomiques (pourcentage de femmes, pourcentage de diplômés universitaires, âge moyen et revenu médian) sur l'abondance relative de huit espèces d'oiseaux forestiers dans l'écorégion forestière tempérée de l'Est de l'Amérique du Nord. Nous avons utilisé la régression binomiale négative pour modéli...

Background: Pneumothorax is an abnormal collection of air in the pleural space that causes an uncoupling of the lung from the chest wall. It may be spontaneous or traumatic. The spontaneous pneumothorax is usually the result of rupture of superficial emphysematous bullae and may occur in apparently healthy persons or in association with chronic pulmonary disease. It is usually unilateral but may be bilateral. If air reaches the mediastinum and rupture into both the pleural cavity.Methods: 25 consecutive cases of pneumothorax admitted at the Gujarat Adani institute of medical science Bhuj from December 2011 to April 2012 were studied. Each patient was interrogated and examined in detail according to the attached proforma, with a view to identify the nature of pneumothorax.Results: The incidence of pneumothorax was maximum in the 4th decade of life. The youngest one was a boy ages 14 year, while the oldest case was 75 years. 36 cases were under the age of 50 years, while only 2 cases were more than 70 years of age.Conclusions: The prevalence of pneumothorax was greater in male as compared to female. Most of the cases treated with needle aspiration of air and the intercostal drainage through indwelling polyethylene catheter developed surgical emphysema on the affected side which disappeared within 2-3 days after aspiration if air with needle or after removal of polyethylene tube from intercostal space.