Student researches illegal trade in vulture body parts for Masters degree
“While it was previously thought that vultures are not used in traditional medicine in this part of South Africa, our survey clearly showed that vultures are sometimes used in traditional medicine (also called muthi) in this area, mostly to give people clairvoyant abilities.”
African vulture populations are declining, and one of the main threats they face is the illegal trade in vulture body parts, for use in African traditional medicine.
In her research for her MSc at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Mbali Mashele stated that protected areas are regarded as safe havens for vultures, so it is important to understand how people living alongside protected areas feel about vultures.
With the help of six environmental monitors, Mashele, interviewed 248 people living adjacent to protected areas, in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga province.
“While it was previously thought that vultures are not used in traditional medicine in this part of South Africa, our survey clearly showed that vultures are sometimes used in traditional medicine (also called muthi) in this area, mostly to give people clairvoyant abilities.”
They also found that older people were more likely than younger people to have used vulture muthi, and they were also more likely to like vultures than younger people. Some people were afraid of vultures because of the aggressive way they feed.
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“Our survey respondents were keen to learn more about vultures, and conservationists should capitalise on this level of interest. At the same time, it is important to educate people about the dangers of using poison for pest control, not only because of the risks to vultures, but also because of the risks to other wildlife and domestic animals, and most importantly, to people.”
The research was led by Mashele, who was awarded a GreenMatter Fellowship for her project. She was supervised by Prof Colleen Downs from the University of KwaZuluNatal, and Dr Lindy Thompson at the Endangered Wildlife Trust. Mbali graduated in 2020 with an MSc cum laude.
She is grateful to the Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners Association (especially the late Rodney Sibuyi, previous chairperson of the Association, who kindly helped to facilitate access for Mbali and her team), as well as the Mnisi Tribal Community, and the SANParks Rhino Ambassador Environmental Monitors who assisted with the surveys.
