The connection between raptors and human well-being
Danielle du Toit & Dr Lindy Thompson, the EWT’s Birds of Prey Programme
In celebration of World Health Day on 7 April, we acknowledged the important role raptors (predatory birds that hunt other animals or feed on carrion) play in supporting humans and our well-being.
- Ecosystem Services
When feeding, vultures clean carcasses and reduce the spread of diseases such as anthrax and botulism. After the Asian Vulture Crisis in the late 1990s, widespread accidental poisoning caused vulture populations in India to plummet by over 90%. The loss of vultures left more food available for other scavengers, such as feral dogs, which increased in numbers, and in turn, so too did cases of rabies. Economists estimated the healthcare costs to the Indian government at US$296 million over 13 years. This study is one of a handful that tried to put a monetary value on the ecosystem services that vultures provide and the importance of their role in maintaining environmental health.
Owls and eagles provide free pest control services by hunting rodents and other species that can negatively impact human health. Barn Owls with chicks in the nest have been reported to catch up to 30 rodents in one night. Many farmers have acknowledged the importance of Verreaux’s Eagles because these birds effectively control Rock Hyrax populations, which, unchecked, could result in significant losses in crop yields.
Results of blood tests from raptors can also be used to indicate the health of an ecosystem. Recent studies in South Africa by Dr Linda van den Heever and colleagues highlighted the problem of lead poisoning in vultures and how high levels of lead in vultures’ blood most likely result from fragments of lead bullets in the carcasses the birds are eating. These microscopic lead fragments can also be found in venison eaten by people (if those carcasses were shot using lead bullets), so both vultures and people, among others, are susceptible to the same preventable health issue of lead poisoning from lead ammunition. Lead poisoning, such as that consumed from similar sources, resulted in nearly a million lives being lost in 2019 and is the cause of 30% of global intellectual disabilities in humans.
- Cultural Importance
For hundreds, if not thousands of years, raptors have been symbolic in different cultures worldwide. For example, the ancient Egyptian god Horus had the body of a man and the head of a falcon; the Romans believed that eagles represented power and strength, and humans in neolithic times used feathers and bones for ornamental, ceremonial, and functional purposes. Falconry, a hunting method using birds of prey, has been around for about 5,000 years, first known to have been practised by Mongolians. In South Africa, vulture body parts are used in traditional medicine.
Landowners in the Karoo region of South Africa approached the Endangered Wildlife Trust to assist in bringing Cape Vultures back to the area where they have been regionally extinct since the mid-1980s. Many of these farmers sink into nostalgia when remembering their childhoods filled with memories of being in the veld with vultures soaring above them. In the ‘Farmers for Vultures’ video, farmers spoke of spying on vulture nests, and others recalled how they would lie dead still in the middle of the veld in hopes that vultures would circle them. These stories show that these birds’ very existence is essential in the cultures of many people and for their well-being. Not only do these farmers love reminiscing about their younger days, but they live in the hope that one day, vultures will soar across the Karoo skies once again.
Raptors are also crucial to the tourism sector. The Kruger National Park offers tourists the opportunity to see vultures and their feeding behaviour up close. Golden Gate National Park hosts one of the few Bearded Vulture populations and feeding sites, and Cape Vulture colonies across the country have been tourist destinations for decades.
- Raptor conservation is directly beneficial to human well-being
We know that losing vultures across a landscape can cause significant negative impacts on the physical health of humans. By adjusting our practices and using lead-free ammunition, we will reduce the threat of lead poisoning in raptors and potentially similar threats to humans. By practising responsible carcass management to limit the contamination of the environment by chemicals or veterinary medicines, we are providing safe spaces for vultures to perform their ecosystem services. By moving away from using rodenticides and allowing owls and eagles to do natural pest control, we reduce the chances of being affected by the same poisons.
Conservation of species is not only based on their importance to the health of an ecosystem or the services they provide but is often rooted in ensuring physical, mental, and emotional aspects of human well-being. By tackling threats to raptors and investing resources and time into caring for the health of these species and other wildlife, we protect our fellow species and invariably make the environment safer and healthier for people.
References
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A conservation success story – the return of the majestic Cape Vulture
Lindy Thompson and Danielle du Toit, the EWT’s Birds of Prey Programme
Cape Vultures (Gyps coprotheres) are endemic to southern Africa. They are one of South Africa’s larger vulture species, weighing up to 11 kg. They forage in open vegetation types such as Fynbos, Kalahari, Karoo, grassland, and open woodland. Breeding pairs are monogamous and usually raise one chick. The majestic Cape Vulture was listed as Endangered on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, but in 2021 it was ‘down listed’ to Vulnerable. This is a remarkable conservation success story and testament to the tireless efforts of multiple generations of conservationists in southern Africa. Removing the Cape Vulture from the list of Endangered species in 2021 received very little media attention, despite being an important case study that can provide hope and inspiration to current and future conservationists. This achievement resulted from a concerted effort by various organisations, including the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), BirdLife South Africa, and wildlife rehabilitation centres such as Moholoholo, VulPro, and others. A team of 31 contributors, which included the EWT’s Samantha Page-Nicholson) supplied information and justified why this species should (or should not) stay classed as ‘Endangered’. Threats to the species include unsafe wind energy developments, poisoning events, unsafe power lines, and food availability may play a large role in the successful breeding and population trends of this species. Current conservation actions for the Cape Vulture include systematic monitoring, education and awareness programmes, protection by national and international legislation, the expansion of formally protected areas (such as the Soutpansberg), and the creation and growth of Vulture Safe Zones.
The importance of Vulture Safe Zones in Cape Vulture conservation
Karoo Vulture Safe Zone Document
In India in the 1990s, vulture populations suffered drastic declines. Scientists were baffled as to why until the study of carcasses revealed the presence of the veterinary non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, Diclofenac. They concluded that this drug was the root cause of the mass fatality and had cost about 90% of the vulture population in the area in the space of a decade. This became known as “The Indian Vulture Crisis.” The disappearance of Vultures led to the ecological tipping of scales. Mammalian scavengers such as jackals and feral dogs took advantage of the increased food supplies, and their populations increased. The high number of mammals on carcasses inadvertently led to an increase in the spread of pathogens. India faced, and still faces, a rabies epidemic that costs 30,000 human lives per year and billions of dollars in health fees. The urgent need for action to stop the rapid decline of vulture species in Eurasia and Africa led to the development of the Multi-Species Action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian Vultures (commonly referred to as the Vulture MsAP). It is a comprehensive and strategic plan which covers ranges across two continents. Vulture Safe Zones are an activity recognised in the Vulture MsAP to encourage the responsible management of the environment by actively reducing threats to vultures in identified areas. They are specified geographic areas where conservationists and landowners use targeted conservation measures adapted for the vulture species present. These measures include safeguarding electrical infrastructure to minimise collisions and electrocutions, reducing the use of poisons, covering or altering reservoirs to prevent vulture drownings, and using NSAIDs responsibly. The most important thing to remember is the responsible management of resources that vultures use, such as the availability of safe perches, water for drinking and bathing, and food. Vulture Safe Zones also promote responsible disposal of carcasses on which vultures scavenge to reduce poisoning through pesticides and lead fragments that remain in a carcass after an animal is shot.
The Karoo Vulture Safe Zone
Landowners in the karoo region of South Africa established the Karoo Vulture Safe Zone (KVSZ) to increase the area’s Cape Vulture populations that have been decimated by persecution resulting from misinformation and a general misunderstanding of their role in the ecosystem. Landowners in the mid-20th century believed that it was vultures killing their small livestock when they would find the birds feeding on them during the day. Unbeknownst to them at the time, the jackal population in the area was beginning to take advantage of the easy prey and kill them during the night. Now, the landowners in the area are admirably working to fix these past mistakes. In August 2020, the first landowner signed up to proclaim his property a Vulture Safe Zone. Since then, the KVSZ has grown to 730,000 hectares owned by 94 landowners committed to making their properties Vulture Safe. The project continues to encourage the responsible management of properties across the karoo landscape through landowner engagements and environmental education, which focus on sustainable and safe practices of managing predators and water resources and the safe disposal of carcasses. The KVSZ team also works through the strategic partnership between the EWT and Eskom to make problem powerlines safe for vultures. Cape Vulture sightings within the project area are reported to the KVSZ team, and it is exciting to receive reports of up to 70 birds roosting on cliffs that were previously void of these magnificent birds. Monitoring efforts by the team to better understand the populations traversing the Eastern Cape skies have shown an increase in breeding pairs in known sites and the possible development of new breeding sites. All of these give the team more motivation to make the Karoo and the larger Eastern Cape a safe space for Cape Vultures. The Vulture Safe Zone process is long, and it will take time until the area is completely vulture safe. In the interim, we continue to encourage vulture safe management and measures and spread awareness of the need for areas like this.
References:
Benson, P.C. and McClure, C.J. (2019). The decline and rise of the Kransberg Cape Vulture colony over 35 years has implications for composite population indices and survey frequency. Ibis 162: 863-872. https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12782 BirdLife International (2021). Gyps coprotheres. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T22695225A197073171. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22695225A197073171.en accessed on 25 August 2022. Howard, A., Hirschauer, M., Monadjem, A., Forbes, N. and Wolter, K. (2020). Injuries, mortality rates, and release rates of endangered vultures admitted to a rehabilitation centre in South Africa. Journal of Wildlife Rehabilitation 40: 15-23. Mbali Mashele, N., Thompson, L.J. and Downs, C.T. (2022). Trends in the admission of raptors to the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, Limpopo province, South Africa. African Zoology 57: 56-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2021.2016073 Thompson, L.J. and Blackmore, A.C. (2020). A brief review of the legal protection of vultures in South Africa. Ostrich 91: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2019.1674938
