Circumstantial evidence suggests that infectious disease was not a cause of this decline or today’s extremely low population density. The decline affected not only Gyps vultures but also all other scavenging birds, such as the Red headed Vulture (SarcoGyps calvus), Greater Adjutant ( Leptoptilos dubius ), Black Kite ( Milvus migrans ), Brahminy Kite (
Haliastur indus), and Large-billed Crow ( Corvus macrorhynchos ). The status of these species varies across the region,
with perhaps the steepest declines in Laos, where even the Largebilled Crow is absent from large areas(Lekagul & Round 1991; Thewlis et