Vultures in Tanzania: One Health, One Chance.
Intentional and unintentional poisoning of vultures is Africa is driving most species to extinction in one or more countries. It is a preventable crisis that is already having widespread impacts. Despite some progress in vulture conservation in Europe and Asia, progress has been slower in Africa but many in government, NGOs, and the private sector are ready to move forward. Recent legislation in Tanzania offers an opportunity to address a major part of the African Vulture Crises (AVC), intentional and unintentional poisoning with toxic substances.
1. Vultures and Hyena. Serengeti NP, Tanzania (Image D. Ringo)
Avian Scavengers at Risk
“Avian scavengers in general and vultures in particular are major victims of deliberate poisoning, either intentionally (e.g., belief-based use or to eliminate sentinel species) or unintentionally (e.g., secondary poisoning due to the ingestion of bait targeting livestock predators).
Poisoning is a major threat affecting both Old World and New World vultures but remains particularly critical in Asia and Africa. In Africa, populations of eight species have declined on average by 62% during the past decades mainly due to poisoning and trade in traditional medicines, which together accounted for ~90% of reported deaths.
The behavioral strategies of vultures – notably the accumulation of large numbers of birds at carcasses – often result in catastrophically large numbers of victims in a single poisoning event. Large-scale mortality events have been frequent in past decades, including several that occurred in Africa. In a shorter timescale (from late 2017 to September 2019), >1,300 vultures were poisoned in southern Africa (Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Tanzania, and Kenya).”
(From: Oliva-Vidal, P. 2022. Avian scavengers in a changing world: a multidisciplinary conservation approach in the Pyrenees. PhD Thesis. Universitat de Lleida, Spain.)
