The main threat to vultures in Cambodia is limited food availability, since numbers of large wild ungulate species that constitute the main source of food for vultures are relatively low.
Populations of White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis, Slender-billed Vulture Gyps tenuirostris and the Indian Vulture Gyps indicus have declined by more than 97% across India, Pakistan and Nepal in the last decade. Recent scientific research has demonstrated that the declines are caused by use of the drug diclofenac, a painkiller and anti-inflammatory drug aministered to livestock and humans. Diclofenac is highly toxic to the birds, and it is ingested by Vultures when they eat carcasses that have been treated with the drug.
Diclofenac is not used in Cambodia so there is significant potential for species recovery in the country.