CESAM/FCUL member report in Science the largest mass poisoning event of vultures in the world
Published in 29/10/2020
In a letter published on the 16th October 2020, the PhD student of CESAM/FCUL Mohamed Henriquestogether with international researchers and conservationists, including Bissau Guineans, warn in the journal Science about the world's deadliest intentional vulture poisoning event in the world. It occurred this year in Guinea-Bissau and decimated more than 2,000 jugudés (vultures of the species Necrosyrtes monachus), a species Critically Endangered of extinction, according to the IUCN's Red List of Endangered Species. In the beginning of 2020, massive cases of vulture mortality were found in Bafatá and Gabú regions of eastern Guinea-Bissau, and the local population alerted the Guinean authorities responsible for biodiversity conservation and veterinary services. Despite the lack of resources and the added difficulties related to the Covid-19 pandemic, several teams were sent to the field to ascertain the cause of vulture mortality – more than 2,000 individuals, known in the country as jugudés – an emblematic species for Guineans. Through the prompt reaction of the Director-General for Livestock of Guinea-Bissau, the Public Veterinary Services, the NGO Organization for the Defense of Wetlands (ODZH) and the Institute for Biodiversity and Protected Areas (IBAP), with the support of several national and international experts in the conservation and investigation of vultures, it was quickly perceived that this was an environmental crime. Vultures have been intencionally poisoned to remove their heads to feed the illegal trade related to the use of various parts of their body (heads, wings, nails and paws) in sorcery practices in several West African countries. According to Mohamed Henriques, a Luso-Guinean PhD student of the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon and first author of the article, "hundreds of corpses of these vultures were headless, stacked and intentionally hidden under bushes." Suspicions of intentional poisoning were later confirmed by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Lisbon, through the necropsies performed on some corpses collected at the site. "Toxicology analyses have unequivocally shown that the cause of death was methiocarb poisoning, an insecticide sold under the trade name mesurol, which is, among other uses, often applied as slug/snail control and was recently banned in Europe due to its toxicity to wildlife," says José Pedro Tavares, Director of the Vulture Conservation Foundation, one of the co-authors of this article. Several locals also confirmed that individuals were sighted placing poisoned baits to attract vultures. In the letter to thejournal Science, the authors warn that the use of poisons accounts for 30% of vulture deaths on the African continent, and that in West Africa, in just 30 years, 60 to 70% of the populations of the various vulture species have disappeared. "The Jugudé is classified as Critically Endangered of Extinction on the Red List of Endangered Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the last category before the extinction level. Guinea-Bissau is home to more than one fifth of the world's population of this species, and is currently one of the most important countries for the conservation of the species worldwide," says another of the authors, Paulo Catry, researcher and assistant professor at MARE/ISPA-Instituto Universitário. In the now published letter it is highlighted that this catastrophic event represents the disappearance of more than 1% of the world's population of this species. According to Mohamed Henriques, "in vast regions of Africa, vultures play an essential role for humans and for the functioning of ecosystems. In Guinea-Bissau, as well as in much of West Africa, Jugudés are responsible for eliminating a large part of the organic waste in the country's cities and towns, constituting authentic sanitary brigades and maintaining the streets clean. Its role is thus decisive in preventing the proliferation of diseases and their possible transmission vectors, such as street dogs and rats that feed on urban waste. Without these vultures, public health could be at serious risk." The authors end the letter with a strong call for attention, warning that this is a severe blow to the conservation of vultures, and that urgent intervention is needed. Awareness-raising actions about the importance of vulture conservation among local communities and national authorities, the need to enforce and strengthen laws against wildlife poisoning and the much needed increased control of national and cross-border illegal trade of vulture body parts and other animals for traditional medicine are among the actions identified as priorities. To the international community, the authors point out the responsibility of supporting African countries to develop and implement conservation plans to prevent the extinction of these birds, while it is still possible. The letter can be read here. [Image: Necrosyrtes monachus by Ana Coelho]
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