Outrage over mass poisoning of vultures
THE Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) said it was deeply saddened to find that there had been another mass poisoning of vultures in southern Africa.
This was after 104 endangered vultures were found to have been deliberately poisoned in Mbashene, southern Mozambique, on Monday.
At least 80 African Whitebacked Vultures (Gyps africanus) and seven Hooded Vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) died in the incident.
It is believed that the vultures died after eating the meat of a dead elephant that had been laced with poison.
EWT vulture expert André Botha, who was at the scene, said though it was not yet known what had killed the elephant, what they had been able to determine was that someone had laced the carcass with poison and when the vultures fed on it they died.
“Small tusks taken from the young dead elephant as well as the toxic substance used to poison the carcass have been confiscated by law enforcement officers, and a suspect is in custody.
“Some of the dead birds found were mutilated, which may suggest harvest for beliefbased purposes, but without all the information available at this early stage, it is difficult to speculate as to the motive for this poisoning.
“What is known is that vultures in Africa are being poisoned deliberately by poachers to prevent the birds alerting authorities to the poachers’ illegal activities, or for harvesting and sale of body parts for belief-based use.”
Seventeen vultures that were treated immediately by the response team are said to have responded positively.
EWT’s Belinda Glenn said they continued to hope that the vultures would pull through, emphasising that rapid response and appropriate treatment of poisoning victims can make all the difference.
“We are extremely grateful to the response team, which included the EWT’s André Botha and the Incomati Conservancy, which is adjacent to the communal area where the incident took place, particularly owner Dries Gouws and area manager Piet Kok, as well as the responding vet Dr João Almeida from Sabie Game Park and the State Veterinary Services at Skukuza for their incredible response to this incident. Without their actions, the outcome could have been far worse.”
Glenn said EWT’s training programme on the effective intervention of wildlife poisoning incidents and the development and distribution of poison response kits to participating organisations was proving vital in situations such as the one where the vultures were poisoned.
The organisation said that work facilitates a co-ordinated, quicker and more effective response to incidents, with more efficient clean-ups of poisoning sites, directly reducing further poisoning of wildlife.
“This terrible incident is yet another stark reminder of the increasing threat poisonings pose to our dwindling vulture populations.
“Poisoning is the most significant threat to vultures in Africa and Eurasia and, over the last 30 years, has contributed
‘Some birds were mutilated, which may suggest harvest for beliefs’
to declines in excess of 80% in some African species.
“Currently, the IUCN red list of threatened species lists four species of African vulture as critically endangered and three species as endangered. As obligate scavengers, vultures are incredibly vulnerable to poisoning, particularly at carcasses that are laced with these lethal substances,” she said.
Glenn said the EWT had been documenting wildlife poisoning and addressing the conservation threats for over 20 years and had noted a rapid escalation in the use of poisons in recent years for various reasons.
Those include the use of poisons to target specific species such as elephants that provide high-value by-products for trade, as well as mammalian carnivores or monkeys that cause damage to domestic livestock or crops.
“We also note with concern the use of poisons to procure wildlife that may provide a food source such as game birds.
“We’re working hard to tackle the scourge of poisoning, providing support and guidance to law enforcement officials, ensuring that proper investigation and prosecution procedures are followed, and training conservation and agricultural staff to make sure they’re equipped to deal with this threat,” Glenn said.