Mass vulture poisonings spark ecological crisis in the Lowveld
Vultures are scavengers that keep the ecosystem healthy by consuming carcasses and preventing diseases from spreading. Without them the human population could be in danger. A mass poisoning that took place on May 6 in the Lionspruit Reserve next to Marloth Park is the worst mass killing of vultures in the history of the Lowveld.
SANParks rangers, VulPro and the Wild and Free Rehabilitation Centre attended the horrific scene where over 100 vultures died.
'To lose to this number of vultures – let alone adult breeding birds during breeding season – is an ecological crisis,' Kerri Wolter, CEO of Vulpro, stated.
VulPro and Wild and Free Rehabilitation Centre have joined forces to combat this issue and call the new organisation The Vulture Ops. They conduct regular meetings and operate in smaller teams to facilitate quicker response times when alerted about poisonings.
ALSO READ: GRAPHIC CONTENT: Catastrophic vulture poisoning incident near Marloth Park
The team collected samples from poisoned carcasses for testing to learn more about the poison and its harmful effect on these bird that are known for having strong digestive systems. Vultures can digest anything from bones to deadly bacteria like TB, anthrax, and the rabies virus that all occur naturally in carcasses.
'The SAPS are investigating and might be able to enlighten us soon,' Laura Mukwevho, a SANParks media relations practitioner, commented.
Mukwevho further explained that they plan to prevent future attacks by initiating proactive intelligence gathering, intensive deployment of technology, and implementing manpower to hotspots to speed up response time to incidents. No arrests have been made so far and SAPS continues to look for the culprits and a possible syndicate that could be behind these operations.
'It appears there's a syndicate targeting vultures to eliminate these biological indicators. We're losing hundreds of birds in co-ordinated strikes. This isn't random, it's strategic,' said toxicologist, Dr Gerhard Verdoorn.
ALSO READ: GRAPHIC CONTENT: More than 100 vultures killed in Kruger National Park
Verdoorn, the director of the Griffon Poison Information Centre, suspects the illegal substance used in the poisoning could be Aldicarb and/or Terbufos. Terbufos is the toxin that caused the death of six children after they consumed snacks from a spaza shop in Soweto recently.
In addition to cleaning carcasses, vultures act as aerial alarms in the fight against poaching. Without them, humans and wildlife would be more prone to severe illness and we would see a significant rise in extinctions.
'When carcasses remain exposed to the environment for weeks, it results in a build-up of harmful diseases and bacteria such as anthrax, botulism and rabies, which not only negatively affect our wildlife, but humans too. Should vultures go extinct, wildlife and humans will be vulnerable to disease outbreaks from carcasses,' Mukwevho said.
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