• The large-scale poisoning of vultures in Guinea-Bissau represents a major blow to vulture conservation efforts in the West African region.
• Vultures play a vital role in the environment, keeping it free of decaying carcasses.
Image: COURTESY
The death of more than 2,000 critically endangered hooded vultures in Guinea-Bissau has sent shockwaves among conservationists.
In early February, 200 deaths were detected before the figure gradually escalated.
Conservationists now put the figure at more than 2,000 deaths following deliberate poisoning with an agricultural pesticide that is highly toxic.
Six conservation organisations are planning to launch an online petition called #StopTheKillings, calling for action.
The deaths come as a blow to the conservation of vultures, whose populations in Africa have already declined.
The decline is by an average 62 per cent over the past three decades—with seven species crashing by 80 per cent.
“The large-scale poisoning of vultures in Guinea-Bissau represents a major blow to vulture conservation efforts in the West African region and in Africa at large,” organisation for the Defence and Development of Wetlands executive director in Guinea-Bissaurancisco Gomes Wambar said.
"We are urging the Guinea-Bissau government to address these mass killings urgently to safeguard Guinea-Bissau’s vulture populations."
The #StopTheKillings petition will be launched on Wednesday by BirdLife International, Vulture Conservation Foundation, The IUCN Vulture Specialist Group, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Peregrine Fund and The Organization for the Defence and Development of Wetlands in Guinea-Bissau.
It is calling on the Guinea-Bissau government, the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union and the global community to take urgent action to halt the mass killings by bringing to account those responsible for the atrocities and enforcing measures to safeguard vultures.
Vultures play a vital role in the environment keeping it free of decaying carcasses, yet the birds have experienced catastrophic declines around the world, with populations of all African vulture species plummeting by 70-97 per cent over the last 50 years.
In the Guinea-Bissau case, initial investigations indicate that the mass killing of vultures is being driven by belief-based use.
It is erroneously believed that vulture heads and other body parts have special powers and can bring good luck to users. Widespread killing of vultures in Guinea-Bissau through poisoning, the leading cause of vulture mortality in Africa, threatens to wipe out stronghold populations of these critically endangered birds.
The petition is also calling on the global community to support interventions aimed at halting the persecution of vultures in Guinea-Bissau and across Africa.
“As a long-time amateur ornithologist, I have come to admire birds’ life cycles and conservation needs. The mass deaths of vultures in my country highlights the dire vulnerability of Africa’s vultures and the need to urgently save these rapidly disappearing birds while involving local communities in these interventions”, Professor Carlos Lopes says.
Carlos is the retired UN Under-Secretary-General and current Professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town.
“Poisoning of vultures in Guinea-Bissau is being driven by demand for vulture body parts used for superstitious purposes such as ritual charms. Changing this trajectory will require concerted efforts from all stakeholders, most importantly local and national authorities and civil society organisations."
Vulture conservation manager at BirdLife International said, "Halting the killings and urgently putting in place measures to protect vultures should be a priority."
Edited by R.Wamochie