Up to 95% of India's vultures have died, leaving excarnated
bodies untouched and a potential source of spread of disease. Now a cause has been discovered. A painkiller drug
called diclofenac is said to be responsible. No details as to how it acts to kill the important scavengers.
"excarnation" is the (to us revolting) practice of putting dead human and animal bodies on elevated platforms
where vultures eat the flesh, leaving only the bones to be
interred. It is a faut de mieux solution because economics
prevent use of methods employed in prosperous countries.