Is the fact that carrion is not being consumed as much by vultures related to the increase in rabies?
Yes.
Still not solved, but certainly things are moving that way.
Is some mammal moving into the carrion-eating niche which is being vacated by vultures?
Is it specifically cow carrion which is relevant?
Is some means of transmission of rabies relevant other than the usual “infected animal bites non-infected animal”?
KK
Is the mammalian carrion-eater rats?
Is it jackals?
Is it dogs?
In any event, I’m going to take a stab: Vultures are diminishing in number, which is leading to a boom in the population of <mammalian scavenger> to eat all of the carcasses of dead cows which humans won’t eat. Because of a greater number of said animals, there are a greater number of them with rabies, who are sometimes passing it on to humans.
Though I’m not sure why the vulture numbers would be down.
Your summary is right for the most part. The solution requires determining what happened to the vulture population, though.
Is the reduction in vulture population due to human intervention?
Is the reduction in vulture population due to disease?
Is the reduction in vulture population due to the introduction of a competing species not native to India?
kk
Has India recently legalised DDT (or some similar pesticide) to improve agriculture/combat malaria, and this has been passed up the food chain, killing vultures?
NO
Are people deliberately killing the vultures?
Because they are a vector for another disease?
Were vultures trapped and removed?
No to everything.
Is it something (non-pesticide) that is human-introduced in the food chain that is killing the vultures?
Yes, and it’s pretty interesting(I think, anyway).
OK, is it an antibiotic that is given to cattle that is killing the vultures?
Nope.
Is it *something *that is given to cattle that is killing the vultures?
Yes.
I know it seems like I’m just making you guess an endless list of things that could be given to cattle, but I’m not. There is a point to it.
Is it anything that humans are deliberately doing to kill or hinder vultures?
Is it something that humans are deliberately doing to kill or hinder some other animal species?
Is it something that humans are not deliberately doing, but which is a byproduct of some other human activity?
Is it something that is only relevant to vultures because of bioamplification (the tendency for creatures higher on the food chain to get higher doses of contaminants)?