Unearthing poison use and consequent anecdotal vulture mortalities in Namibia’s commercial farmland – implications for conservation

Abstract

Across Africa, the illegal use of poison is triggering a continent-wide scavenger crisis, with vultures suffering the most severe negative consequences. Vultures may die as indirect victims of the conflict between livestock farmers and predators, or they may be directly targeted by poachers with the aim to reduce the role of vultures as sentinels that alert authorities of poaching events. In this study, we provide novel information on vulture mortalities across the commercial farmlands of Namibia. We show that estimated mortalities of vultures due to anthropogenic causes amount to over 800 individuals over the period 2000-2015, which underscores the magnitude of the problem. The highest numbers of vulture deaths were reported from the southern half of the country, with the exception of the areas just south of Etosha national park, and poisoning was the number one cause of reported deaths. Aldicarb or carbofuran were the most commonly used poisons, but strychnine is still used by about one farmer out of ten. Poison is typically used by means of distributing poisoned baits on the landscape. Furthermore, willingness to use poison in the future was highest for farmers who own large properties with high livestock numbers, particularly sheep and goats, farmers who purportedly suffered high livestock losses to predators and who have a negative perception towards predators. We discuss the implications of these results and the possible urgent actions that should be

Vulture declines, threats and conservation: the attitude of the indigenous Ghanaian

“…At present, furadan is widely available and there are no laws or policies in place to ban its use or regulate sales of similar chemicals in Ghana. This study indicates that the potential harm to vultures posed by this chemical is present, as evidenced by other studies where furadan was responsible for deaths of large numbers of vultures (Odino and Ogada 2008, Otieno et al 2010, Santangeli et al 2017).…”

Communal farmers of Namibia appreciate vultures and the ecosystem services they provide

“…Poisoning has been identified as the main cause for the collapse of Africa's vulture populations and in Namibia it is definitely the primary threat facing vultures (Botha et al 2012;Santangeli et al 2017). It is also the primary threat to vultures in Europe, particularly in Spain where over 8000 poisoning were reported over 20 years (Margalida 2012).…”

“…Five of Africa's Critically Endangered and Endangered vultures reside within Namibia to some extent (Simmons et al 2015). The primary threat that vultures face within Namibia is feeding upon poison laced carcasses which farmers put out to target predators that kill their livestock (Botha et al 2012;Simmons et al 2015;Santangeli et al 2017). Consequently, farmers have a vital role to play in reducing threats and conserving vultures.…”

Synergistic effect of land-use and vegetation greenness on vulture nestling body condition in arid ecosystems

“…Therefore, an immediate challenge is to ensure the preservation of healthy ecosystems within the current protected areas and address the threats to vultures in unprotected landscapes dominated by livestock and game farms. Here, the use of poisons to kill carnivores 43 , 44 as well as environmental contaminants 45 , such as lead present in hunted game, represent impelling threats that need to be urgently addressed. This would allow for the short as well as long term conservation of vulture populations across arid savannah landscapes under rapid environmental change.…”