Vultures circle on verge of extinction as threats grow

Following much needed care, seven critically endangered Cape vultures have been released back into the wild after their successful rehabilitation by the Vulture Programme (VulPro).

Despite initially planning to release nine vultures, VulPro founder Kerri Wolter said although all nine of them had recovered and were able to fly, one had overexaggerated leg lifting when walking, which raised concerns of its safety following release.

“If a bird has survived a poisoning incident and is able to make it to a rehabilitator, this would be one of the clinical signs most likely to be seen,” she said.

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“Alongside uncoordination, stumbling, falling over and an inability to balance, which we call ataxia, and severe seizures.”

Of the seven, five have been rehabilitated from power line injuries. The birds had soft tissue injuries.

“Thankfully no broken bones. We had one which was or had recovered from poisoning and then also one from an animal attack,” Wolter added.

Vultures fastest-declining bird species

Despite Africa’s iconic vulture populations playing an integral part in a functioning ecosystem, they are the fastest-declining bird species globally. Thus, they are classified as a highly protected species because they’re critically endangered.

“The threat of their extinction is actually very real in our lifetime,” Wolter said.

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“Poisoning, in its various forms, is by far the most significant threat. There are two broad types of poisoning: unintentional [secondary] poisoning, where vultures are not the intended target, and targeted poisoning, where vultures are intentionally killed.”

Wolter said vultures were deliberately poisoned by poachers with large quantities of pesticides because circling vultures signal potential illicit activities.

“Vultures are killed because they play the role of sentinels almost as a tell-tale sign of a poached animal.

“You also have lead poisoning, poisoning due to human-wildlife conflict, traditional healing or the harvesting of vultures for traditional use. In South Africa, power line infrastructure is also a major threat,” she said.

‘We need to protect them’

Over 100 vultures and a hyena died last year in August near Punda Maria in the Kruger National Park after feeding on a buffalo carcass and a further 20 were discovered at the poisoning scene in bad condition.

Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife and its conservation partner Wildlife ACT in December found 47 white-backed vultures and five tawny eagles dead, with 35 of the vultures’ heads removed. In the same year, 151 poisoned vultures were found in the Zululand region of KwaZulu-Natal. Five live birds were recovered and taken to a rehabilitation facility for treatment.

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This year, experts and activists said unless there were drastic changes in the poisoning of vultures, then the African whitebacked vulture would be extinct in four to five years.

“Many people think they are ugly or dirty and my ask to the public is to come visit us and see the birds up close, and learn about their importance, why we need to protect them,” Wolter said.

University of Cape Town criminologist Dr Annette Hübschle has said there was a huge need to criminalise environmental transgressions.