Another vulture poisoning incident, discovered two days before Christmas in far northern KwaZulu-Natal, has sparked warnings that the region’s diminishing vulture populations could face extinction if belief-based use is not addressed, writes Fred Kockott
- Fifteen white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) and a young lappet-faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotos) have died after feeding on a poison-laced impala carcass in northern Zululand last week — the fourth such incident in the region in 2019.
- The heads and feet had been removed from 13 of the dead birds, their bodies concealed in thick bush: experts warn that deliberate poisoning of vultures for belief-based use is on the increase
- More than 1,200 vultures were deliberately poisoned across Southern and Eastern Africa this year, according to the Endangered Wildlife Trust.
First published by Mongabay.com
The tally of vultures harvested for body parts continues to rise in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Soon after releasing two rehabilitated vultures, rescued from a different poisoning scene earlier this year, WildLife ACT was alerted to another incident on 23 December on Rolling Valley Ranch, located between Pongola and Mkuze in the far north of the province.
“Arriving at a scene like this with everything so fresh, but too late to assist in saving any poisoned birds is heart breaking. Losing one vulture is always a tragedy. Losing at least 16 birds at one feeding is a crisis,” said PJ Roberts, manager of Wildlife ACT’s Emergency Response Team.
Wildlife ACT works closely with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, local farmers and communities, and other conservation groups to protect three endangered vulture species in KwaZulu-Natal.
The first bird found, a white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus), hinted at Roberts’s worst fears: “It had a full crop (still containing undigested food), contorted feet and many dead flies were scattered around its remains — all clear signs of fast-acting poison.”
An African White-backed vulture was among sixteen poisoned vultures incinerated on a game ranch in northern KwaZulu-Natal this week. The carcasses were all burned to ash to remove the fast-acting poison from the environment. Photo courtesy of Wildlife Act.
Read the full story here
https://rovingreporters.co.za/vulture-poisonings-raise-the…/
Read the full story here
https://rovingreporters.co.za/vulture-poisonings-raise-the…/
Another vulture poisoning incident, discovered two days before Christmas in far northern KwaZulu-Natal, has sparked warnings that the region’s diminishing vulture populations could face extinction if belief-based use is not addressed.
- Fifteen white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) and a young lappet-faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotos) have died after feeding on a poison-laced impala carcass in northern Zululand last week — the fourth such incident in the region in 2019.
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