Unloved vultures fight for survival in Pakistan
(WorldNews Pakistan)

Symbols of death Once a common sight in the skies of Pakistan, today the white-backed vulture is facing extinction - its population devastated by the use of industrial drugs to breed the cattle whose carcasses they traditionally feed on. Bird numbers have plummeted by more than 99 per cent since the 1990s, according to the local branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which is desperately attempting to ensure the species does not die out. `Once vultures were found in a very good number in Pakistan,` explains Warda Javed, coordinator for the WWF backed Vulture Restoration Project. But due to several threats - principally the use of the anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac, which causes kidney...