In the late 20th Century, India's vulture population collapsed. Over 90% of the vulture population across South Asia was decimated. This led to an ecological collapse and a public health disaster. The lack of such a power scavenger meant carcasses of livestock and wildlife were left untouched. Other than being a food source for feral dogs, these rotting carcases became the breeding ground of various bacterias and pathogens. It was through this mechanism, that the exploding population of feral dogs became a transmittor of deadly diseases, such as rabies, to humans and other wildlife.
Despite, such glaring evidence of the impact of ecology on public health, there has been minimal effort to prevent the transmission of zoonotic disease. The illegal wildlife trade has continued to prosper, eventually leading to the devestating covid 19 pandemic. Moreover, humans have also been found to transmit diseases, such as TB, to wildlife in captivity, especially elephants.
In Episode 4, we host Bindu Raghavan to talk about the impact of the vulture crisis and the feral dog menance on public health, emerging zoonotic diseases, lessons from covid 19 and a career in wildlife health. Bindu is one of the Principal Scientists at the Centre for Wildlife Studies in Bengaluru India. She has rich academic history in the field of epidemology and wildlife ecology from various prestigious institutes, including the Wildlife Institute of India and Washington State University.
Interview 4: The Pressing Problem of Wildlife Diseases with Bindhu Raghavan