The painkiller diclofenac – which you have rubbed onto sore muscles as Voltaren – is fed to arthritic cows in India as an act of charity; but when vultures scavenge the carcasses, the drug is lethal to them. Vulture populations have crashed, in one study to 3% of previous levels. Packs of feral dogs, many rabid, have flourished. The anxious Parsees of Mumbai, deprived of their traditional funeral partners, have been forced to incinerate their loved ones in solar ovens. (Have they discovered a green outsourcing opportunity?)
The Indian government has halted veterinary production of the drug. Good for them, but late in the day. The US government, as you would expect, has been far more proactive in vulture conservation.
rilkefan says
"Anxious"?
James Wimberley says
How would you feel if they told you that there's no room in the cemetery, and the crematorium has broken down with no date for reopening?
rilkefan says
Grieving? Upset? Angry? Outraged? Offended?
I'd have gone with no adjective at all.
Susan Abe says
Me, I think anxious is just right.
But then, I don't get the sense of entitlement that lets people become offended when cultural traditions are forced to change.