With the emergence of COVID-19, the attention of decision-makers is temporarily focused very strongly on containing the pandemic. But, our team has received urgent alerts from the field indicating that, since the beginning of this year, vultures are facing a dramatic mass mortality situation in Guinea-Bissau, a West African country located between Senegal and Guinea. The situation is quickly worsening.
In February, more than 600 vultures were found dead in the Bafatá region (mainly in the Bafatá, Bambadinca, and Xitole sectors), in eastern Guinea-Bissau. During the second week of March 2020, 120 casualties were reported in the Gabú region alone, also located in the east of the country.
Evidence suggests that the vultures have been killed deliberately using poisoned baits. Local beliefs maintain that vulture parts – in particular, their heads – have magical properties, and more than 200 decapitated vultures have been found. The birds and their parts are traded into at least Senegal and maybe other West African countries.
The death toll is now sitting at around 1,603 birds, with numbers continuing to rise. However, it will never be possible to determine exact number of deaths, notably because searches only covered very limited areas and many carcasses have probably been missed or rapidly buried by local people.
Our team already had a chance to share information with you about the gravity of the collapse of these vulture populations due to the importance of their role for ecosystems. But, the situation has now reached a tipping point and we are on the verge of a massive extinction crisis. Reported mortality rates have even greater significance because these incidents are occurring during the vulture breeding season in this region, meaning that mortality of adult birds could also result in mortality of chicks. This could have a catastrophic impact on the conservation status of this vulture species at national and global levels.
The IUCN SSC Vulture Specialist Group, Vulture Conservation Foundation, and BirdLife International launched a national emergency response action plan in close collaboration with in-situ field teams to monitor the situation closely, and alerted the international community about this crisis. Born Free USA supported these organizations by linking with key government contacts to help spread the word. We are also planning on ensuring that this crisis is brought to the attention of the CITES Animals Committee, which will be discussing the impact of international trade on vulture populations at its upcoming meeting (currently scheduled for July 13 – 17, 2020).
As the world reacts to the COVID-19 pandemic, vultures are dying under the radar. Born Free USA will continue our work to raise awareness about the threats to these birds and to save them before it’s too late!
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Aurora
