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

Abstract

SummaryUnderstanding the attitude of people towards vultures, especially factors that influence behaviours that support their conservation, is crucial if the decline in vultures is to be slowed and reversed. Their vital ecosystem function in keeping the environment free of carcasses and reducing the spread of disease is not yet appreciated in Ghana. Little is known about the attitude of Ghanaians’ about vultures. Structured questionnaires and key informant surveys were employed with a sample size of 460 respondents randomly selected across Ghana. Over 85% of respondents were familiar with the Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus and vultures were culturally important to 56% of respondents. Diseases that affect livestock are claimed to be treated with chemicals such as diclofenac sodium to which vultures are highly susceptible globally and livestock carcasses were not available to vultures as 53% of respondents bury carcasses. A new poisoning pathway has emerged in which furadan is used to poison wildlife for bushmeat and the offal removed which is then consumed by vultures, as indicated by 78% of respondents. The majority of respondents positively thought vultures were important and must be protected. Poisoning, habitat loss particularly the loss of silk cotton tree Ceiba pentandra and trade in vulture parts for traditional medicine are major threats to vultures in Ghana. Continuous awareness creation, positive attitude towards the environment, vulture conservation programmes and protection of breeding sites were some urgent conservation actions recommended to ensure the survival of vultures.

Predicting residents' intention to conserve the hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) in the Birem North District, Ghana

“…For example, some respondents believe that harmless creatures like the vulture should not be persecuted by man since they have existence value and roles to play in ecosystems as specialized scavengers. This finding is in line with the finding of Deikumah (2019) in a nationwide study in Ghana where he reported that the majority of respondents were positive towards protecting vultures because, in their opinion, vultures were important in their environment. Similarly, a study conducted in the eastern mid-hills of Nepal also reported that the majority of the respondents showed a positive attitude towards vultures and a desire to support their conservation ( Phuya et al., 2016 ) to improve on environmental quality.…”

“…Some respondents clarify that there is no need to copy other members of a community to support vulture conservation, rather one needs to think about the benefits of the presence of vultures in the environment. Deikumah (2019) reports that 75% of Ghanaians indicate support for vulture conservation because they think it is an important bird in their environment.…”

“…Previous studies (Boakye et al, 2019;Deikumah, 2019) indicate that Ghanaians do have positive thoughts about the vulture and consider it an important bird in cities and towns. Based on this empirical information, we hypothesized that (hypothesis 1): residents' attitude will affect their intention to support the conservation of the hooded vulture.…”

“…Studies on vultures in Ghana have been centered on population estimation ( Gbogbo et al., 2016 ; Deikumah, 2019 ), threats to their survival ( Annorbah and Holbech, 2012 ; Deikumah, 2019 ) and human uses of the species ( Boakye et al., 2019 ).…”

“…Generally, research into the social component of vulture conservation is scanty worldwide (e.g. Santangeli et al., 2016 ; Morales-Reyes et al., 2017 ) and in Ghana only a few studies ( Ogada and Buij, 2011 ; Deikumah, 2019 ) are known to have touched on attitudes towards vultures. Vultures are a species mostly associated with humanized environments and now that they are an endangered species, it would be useful to increase the social aspect of research into their conservation to understand attitudes and behaviors that are likely to have effects (positive or negative) on their survival.…”