A Strategy for Conserving Old World Vulture Populations in the Framework of One Health

Abstract

Health brings the powerful interrelationship between human and wildlife health together with ecosystem health. The initial concept of One Health was formulated decades ago and focused on disease transfer from wildlife to human populations. More recently, the concept has been used to associate resilience to disease with the health of the ecosystem and resilience to environmental stressors. The need for a One Health approach is particularly evident in the plight of Old World vultures, which are facing a conservation crisis due to drastic reductions in populations across their entire range. Moreover, vulture conservation exemplifies many contemporary tenets of One Health; vultures are critical to a sustainable and resilient ecosystem, which in turn is essential for the socio-ecological health of human communities. In this review, we examine the complex factors contributing to the demise of Old World vulture populations, using the lens of One Health to conceptualize the primary drivers impacting the health and sustainability of these populations. The One Health concept provides the basis for the development of a framework that incorporates a multidimensional approach and includes human health, wildlife health, environmental and disease-related stressors, disease incidences, societal pressures, and environmental contaminants. Integrating societal needs with management aimed at maintaining healthy vulture populations is key for successfully using a One Health framework to optimize the health of human and wildlife populations and ensure ecosystem health.

The Importance of Fostering and Funding Scientific Research, and its Relevance to Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

“…The One Health conceptual framework may provide an approach for developing effective programs and communication because it is designed to provide a structured process in developing and implementing programmatic actions in a framework that integrates human and environmental quality at the level of ecosystems (Buttke, 2011; Ottinger et al, 2021; Sleeman et al, 2017; Vesterinen et al, 2019). It emerged decades ago in response to the threat of disease transmission from wildlife to humans (Buttke, 2011), and more recently expanded to include many other critical factors affecting human and wildlife health, including pollution, climate change, urban sprawl, land use, and resource availability (Drouet, 2020; Epstein, 2005; Haines et al, 2006; Kim et al, 2014; McMichael et al, 2006; McMichael, 2013).…”

Old World Vultures Reflect Effects of Environmental Pollutants Through Human Encroachment

“…Birds, and vultures in particular, are often sensitive indicators of environmental damage, which include effects of chemical contaminants and a mirror into the One Health of the ecosystem (Ottinger et al, 2021; Thompson et al, 2021; van den Heever et al, 2021). Vultures are at the top of the food chain and provide an essential component in the maintenance of ecosystem health by waste removal, diminished disease transmission, and nutrient recycling (DeVault et al, 2004; Houston & Cooper, 1975; Ogada et al, 2011; Ottinger et al, 2021), thereby providing valuable ecosystem services. This is of concern because the loss of these species can have major ecological, social, and economic consequences for ecosystems and humans.…”

“…Originally focused on the transmission of disease from wildlife to humans, the concept of One Health articulates the close inter‐relationship between the health of wildlife and ecosystem health with the welfare and health of human populations. Birds, and vultures in particular, are often sensitive indicators of environmental damage, which include effects of chemical contaminants and a mirror into the One Health of the ecosystem (Ottinger et al, 2021; Thompson et al, 2021; van den Heever et al, 2021). Vultures are at the top of the food chain and provide an essential component in the maintenance of ecosystem health by waste removal, diminished disease transmission, and nutrient recycling (DeVault et al, 2004; Houston & Cooper, 1975; Ogada et al, 2011; Ottinger et al, 2021), thereby providing valuable ecosystem services.…”

Assessing African Vultures as Biomonitors and Umbrella Species

“…Vultures are obligate scavengers with a crucial role as highly specialized sanitarians (Mendoza et al, 2018). In some cases (particularly in West Africa), the presence of vultures may highlight unhygienic habits such as open-air abattoirs and garbage sites 1 , but usually, the role of vultures as keystone species (Mills et al, 1993;Buechley et al, 2018) means that their loss (and the loss of the irreplaceable cleaning services they provide) may result in mesopredator release, trophic cascades, zoonotic disease epidemics, and considerable economic, environmental, and One Health costs (Markandya et al, 2008;Plaza et al, 2020;Ottinger et al, 2021;van den Heever et al, 2021). From a positive perspective, the selection of a single vulture species for use as an umbrella species for all the African vultures may greatly reduce the costs of monitoring vulture populations and implementing conservation interventions.…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies that test the suitability of vultures as umbrella species. African vulture populations are declining rapidly (Ottinger et al, 2021;Williams et al, 2021), and the funding available and time left to save these birds are both limited. So, it could be extremely helpful if conservationists could focus their efforts on a single African vulture species, which could serve as an umbrella species for all of the African vultures.…”