In the 1990s, Indian farmers started using a cheap painkiller for cattle, which tragically led to a massive decline in the vulture population—down from 50 million to just a few thousand. These vultures were crucial for cleaning up animal carcasses and preventing the spread of deadly diseases. With their numbers dwindling, carcasses began to rot, leading to the proliferation of disease-carrying feral dogs and contaminated water sources. This ecological disaster has been linked to around 500,000 human deaths and $69 billion in economic losses due to the health impacts and increased disease spread. The story is a stark reminder of how disrupting one part of an ecosystem can have catastrophic consequences.

Scientists claim that in the 1990s, eager Indian farmers adopted a painkiller for their cattle, which resulted in the unintentional death of 500,000 people and enormous financial losses. These losses were not caused by harm to the cattle, but rather by the vulture population, whi...