500 birds poisoned

Adam Hartman

THE discovery of about 500 poisoned carrion birds’ (which include other species besides vultures) carcasses in the Caprivi (now renamed Zambezi) this past weekend is considered by expert conservationists as one of the worst cases in the history of Southern Africa.

The birds died after feeding on a poached elephant laced with poison – a common practice used by poachers to escape detection.

What makes it even worse is that the consequences could be far worse than just the dead birds on the ground.

The poisoning will most likely also have affected bird populations from neighbouring countries as well as the ‘surviving’ offspring and partners of the dead birds because it is the vultures’ breeding season.

A massive ‘rescue mission’ was launched yesterday by the Rare and Endangered Species Trust (REST) to try and find as many vulture chicks as possible in an attempt to save them. The mission was considered by some as trying to find a needle in a haystack because of the lack of data and co-ordination of vultures in Caprivi as compared to elsewhere in Namibia.

Another problem is that most of the carcasses were burnt out.

Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) park wardens have been fingered for trying to dispose of the carcasses to destroy the poison the poachers used to kill the birds.

Attempts to get a comment from the ministry were also unsuccessful because officials were either out of the country or at meetings.

The carcasses of the birds were already decomposed and affected by weather conditions and insects indicating that the actual poisoning could have happened about a month ago. It was not possible to get samples for testing what poisons were used because the discovery was only made a few days ago.

There is an argument presented by some people that because of the vultures’ state of decomposition, the wardens’ decision to burn the carcasses and avoid further poisoning was well thought – although even that is considered too late.

Peter Bridgeford of Vultures Namibia said the latest incident was similar to an incident that happened in the Caprivi last year when about 300 vultures were poisoned after feasting on a poached elephant carcass.

“In this isolated area, far from the vigilant eyes of police and conservation officers, the illegal slaying of an elephant set in motion a train of events that shocked even experienced law enforcement officers. Murderous thieves shot and killed an elephant for the ivory it was carrying.

“Knowing that conservation staff would be alerted by hundreds of circling vultures, the poachers cold-bloodedly decided to eliminate the ‘eyes-in-the-sky’. They liberally covered the elephant carcass with poison. The vultures were quick to spot the slain elephant and they descended in their hundreds to feast on the enormous bounty of food. By then the perpetrators were long gone with the ivory,” he said.

Liz Komen of Namibia Animal Rehabilitation Research and Education Centre (NARREC), who is also involved in the investigation in collaboration with the MET, told The Namibian that one of the birds, a white-backed vulture from South Africa considered to be a threatened species was tagged. She also said that there were lappet-faced vultures.

“These are what has been identified so far. But I fear this could include other birds too - like storks and cranes and other vulture species. And also not just from Namibia. These birds have large ranges and are without borders. This is a real mess,” Komen said.

Recently, waterbirds were poisoned by what was identified as organophosphates in the Kavango Region but Komen said that the latest poisoning has not been identified yet – except that it was very effective.

“We may still be able to get some samples even though most carcasses have been destroyed,” Komen said.

She fears the effect it would have on the surviving birds and that nesting birds (maybe not be from Caprivi) would be dead at this point.

“What we need to understand here is that although this could be the worst case of bird poisoning in the history of Southern Africa, it was a secondary consequence of a primary cause: the poaching of the elephant. We are working hard with the ministry to address this issue.

“This tragedy will have far-reaching consequences on the ability of the remaining ‘sanitation workers’ [referring to the vultures] to adequately carry out their tasks. The recruitment of sanitation workers to replace those wantonly slain is a slow process. Vultures are slow-breeding birds, laying only one egg a year and the breeding cycle lasts almost a year. If the chick survives, it will be five years before it can start breeding.

“It cannot speed up the breeding cycle or lay more than one egg even when there is a plentiful supply of food. The one slain elephant is one too many but 300 dead vultures is a catastrophic blow for a population that is already facing many other threats,” she said.

MET principal conservation scientist Holger Kolberg said: “This is the third incident this year in the Caprivi and I am aware of another incident in Botswana. How many vultures are we losing? Add to this the 300-plus vultures we lost in a poisoning incident last year and things are looking grim.”