Which pain killer given to cattle is responsible for near extinction of vultures in India?

The answer is D) Diclofenac. It is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that was widely given to cattle and buffaloes for pain and fever. When these animals died, vultures that fed on the carcasses ingested the residue, which caused fatal kidney failure (visceral gout). The Oriental white-backed, long-billed and slender-billed vultures declined by over 95% in the 1990s and 2000s.

• Ibuprofen is also an NSAID, but it is not the drug linked to vulture mortality in India.
• Acetaminophen (paracetamol) is not an NSAID in the same sense and has no such role in vulture deaths.
• Aspirin is used in humans and has not been implicated in mass vulture deaths.

The core concept is drug residues entering the food chain. Veterinary use of diclofenac was banned in 2006, and the restriction was later tightened. Human-use formulations remain legal, so the ban is specific to veterinary use. Meloxicam was later identified as a safer alternative. For Mains, this links to wildlife conservation, ecosystem services (vultures clear carcasses and limit disease spread, including rabies) and the One Health approach.

Trap: Candidates pick Ibuprofen or Aspirin because all three are NSAIDs. The question asks for the specific drug with the documented vulture link.