Often portrayed as ugly and malicious scavengers, vultures are not a category of endangered species that receive as much attention as the iconic species of charismatic megafauna, such as elephants, rhinoceros, and lions.
And yet, vulture species have a fundamental role to play as nature’s most important scavengers, providing critical environmental cleaning services by keeping both natural and man-made habitats free of carcasses and waste, thereby helping to limit the spread of diseases. In Africa, a looming vulture crisis is unraveling, with African vulture populations vanishing at alarming rates and most vulture species teetering on the brink of extinction. In fact, seven out of the 11 species of vultures ranging in Africa (the White-backed, White-headed, Hooded, Rüppell’s, Lappet-faced, Cape, and Egyptian vultures) qualify as Critically Endangered or Endangered on the IUCN Red List and, globally, vultures are considered one of the most threatened groups of birds.
As long-lived apex predators with low productivity and slow maturation rates, vultures are especially vulnerable to increases in mortality rates. Study results indicate that Africa’s vultures are facing a range of threats, the most significant of which are poisoning and illegal trade in vulture body parts for traditional medicine, which together account for 90% of reported deaths. Vultures are being poisoned unintentionally (from agricultural pesticides) and intentionally (from poached carcasses). Like other illegal hunters of big game in Africa, ivory poachers are known to deliberately poison elephant carcasses to target vultures, whose feeding on the elephant carcass would otherwise draw attention to their illegal activities.
Meanwhile, vulture brains and other body parts are thought to provide good luck, clairvoyant powers, and increased intelligence, and are used as remedy for various physical and mental ailments. Trade in vulture parts for traditional medicine is most severe in West Africa, where vultures are also sometimes hunted for food. Given the local extirpations of species in some countries, traffickers are increasingly crossing international borders to collect vultures and their eggs. Recent research has shown that yearly offtake of vultures in West Africa for sale in local markets represents a sizeable proportion of regional populations, suggesting that trade contributes to increased mortality rates and population declines in vultures.
The collapse of vulture populations has clear ecological, economic, and human costs, and yet the generally negative public perception towards vultures has hindered support for vulture conservation. Consequently, there is an even more urgent need to document and publicize the dire situation of vultures in Africa, particularly in West Africa.
There is a high risk that the remaining fragmented, very small, or very low density populations of some African vulture species may not be viable. Limited availability of information on vultures is restricting the formulation of effective management action. Substantial research gaps on African vultures remain, and so greater efforts for population monitoring and conservation status assessments, as well as studies of their threats and impacts, are essential.
Public awareness campaigns are also needed to highlight the dangers and the potential health implications of consuming vultures as bushmeat and traditional medicines, particularly given the high proportion of birds having been killed by poison. Threatened and endangered vulture species are displayed openly in local markets in West Africa, and national governments and wildlife conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs) must work to halt the illegal trade in vultures as bushmeat and for traditional medicine. More effective law enforcement is needed to curb the illegal hunting and sale of vulture meat and body parts, and to regulate the import and sale of highly toxic pesticides and other poisons.
Part of Born Free USA’s current capacity-building program in Africa aims to raise the awareness of West African authorities on the urgent need to prioritize vulture species conservation.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Jessica Stabile,
Africa Policy & Capacity Building Program Associate