Poisoning Risk to Vultures: A West African Crisis with Continental Implications
The poisoning risk to vultures has reached catastrophic levels in West Africa, where 89% of recorded vulture deaths result from deliberate poisoning. Dr Clément Daboné’s groundbreaking research in Burkina Faso reveals this alarming trend, with 779 of 879 documented vulture fatalities attributed to poisoned baits – particularly near national borders, suggesting transnational trafficking of vulture parts for traditional medicine.
Key Findings from Burkina Faso
- 730 interviews with butchers, veterinarians and abattoir staff
- Poisoning accounts for 89% of vulture deaths
- Border areas highest risk – indicating cross-border trade
- Secondary poisoning kills hundreds per incident
A Critically Endangered White-backed Vulture, Gyps africanus, photographed in South Africa’s Limpopo Province © L. Thompson.
Poisoning Risk to Vultures: Southern African Parallels
The crisis mirrors threats in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, where the EWT’s Birds of Prey Programme is taking action:
- Drafting South Africa’s Vulture Biodiversity Monitoring Plan
- Training rangers in Wildlife Poisoning Response
- Teaching crime scene preservation and carcass sampling
- Developing protocols to save surviving birds
“Each poisoning event can wipe out entire vulture colonies,” explains Dr Lindy Thompson. “We’re racing to build capacity before it’s too late.”
Urgent Conservation Measures Needed
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Community awareness campaigns on poisoning impacts
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Stronger legislation against vulture part trade
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Cross-border cooperation to combat trafficking
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Alternative livelihoods for traditional healers
With African vulture populations declining by up to 90% for some species, addressing the poisoning risk to vultures is critical to preventing ecological collapse across the continent.
A Critically Endangered subadult Hooded Vulture, which was poisoned, along with 64 other birds of prey, in South Africa’s Limpopo Province in 2015. © L. Thompson.
John Davies from the EWT’s Birds of Prey Programme talking about wildlife poisoning at Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in South Africa’s Limpopo Province in 2020. © L. Thompson.
Dr Lindy Thompson (right), from the EWT’s Birds of Prey Programme, presented Wildlife Poisoning Response Training for the Black Mambas, an all-female anti-poaching force, in South Africa’s Limpopo Province.
The study was titled ‘Trade in vulture parts in West Africa: Burkina Faso may be one of the main sources of vulture carcasses’, and you can access it here: https://doi.org/10.1017/S095927092100054X
References:
Daboné, C., Ouéda, A., Thompson, L.J., Adjakpa, J.B. & Weesie, P.D.M. (2022) Trade in vulture parts in West Africa: Burkina Faso may be one of the main sources of vulture carcasses. Bird Conservation International. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095927092100054X
Gore, M.L., Hübshle, A., Botha, A.J., Coverdale, B.M., Garbett, R., Harrell, R.M., Krueger, S., Mullinax, J.M., Olson, L.J., Ottinger, M.A., Smit-Robinson, H., Shaffer, L.J., Thompson, L.J., van den Heever L. & Bowerman, W. (2020) A conservation criminology-based desk assessment of vulture poisoning in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area. Global Ecology and Conservation 23:e01076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01076
Dr Lindy Thompson, the EWT’s Birds of Prey Programme