Today is International Vulture Awareness Day, or #IVAD. We often talk about our local UK wildlife, but did you know that your support also allows us to work internationally - including fighting to save one of the most iconic bird species in South Asia? Asian vultures are teetering on the edge of extinction. Incredibly, 99.9 per cent of white-backed vultures and 97 per cent of long and slender-billed vultures have been wiped out - a staggering 40 million birds. The cause, we discovered in 2003, was widespread veterinary use of anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in cattle, which subsequently entered the vultures' food chain. As well as hitting Asia's ecosystem hard, it also had a devastating effect on local people - triggering health problems and crippling economies. However, since 2006, diclofenac has been banned for veterinary use and a safe substitute found. Now, we have launched a vital breeding programme to re-establish colonies of the three Critically Endangered species! For a ...