The Social Costs of Keystone Species Collapse: Evidence From The Decline of Vultures in India
Abstract
Scientific evidence has documented that we are undergoing a mass extinction of species, caused by human activity. However, allocating conservation resources is difficult due to scarce evidence on damages from losing individual species. This paper studies the collapse of vultures in India, triggered by the expiry of a patent on a painkiller. Our results suggest the functional extinction of vultures—efficient scavengers who removed carcasses from the environment—increased human mortality by over 4% because of a large negative shock to sanitation. We quantify damages at $69.4 billion per year. These results suggest high returns to conserving keystone species such as vultures.