Found in India, Bangladesh, and parts of Southeast Asia, this once very common species has undergone one of the most dramatic declines in recent bird history. Still very common more than ten years ago the world population is now estimated at only 1000 birds! By the late 1990's, many dead and dying vultures were found across many areas of the Indian subcontinent. It took five years of intensive research, to determine that the cause of the decline was the veterinary drug, diclofenac, which became available in India aroud 1994. The species is now classified on the IUCN list as Critically Endangered. I was in India in 1992, and then the vultures were an omnipresent sight almost everywhere in Northern India. I remember, that you could easily observe 1000 vultures in one day in the middle of New Dehli. All the big trees in the lanes, where at that time plenty of huge Vulture nests. It felt quite shocking to observe in 2008 only a few vultures during my one month stay in North-East India. Kazirange, a huge wetland area is still a stronghold for the Sleder-billed Vulture.