I KILLING THE PLANETS BIRDS: Why vultures are so important — and dying off. Now, the center of the v
I KILLING THE PLANETS BIRDS: Why vultures are so important — and dying off. Now, the center of the vulture crisis is in sub-Saharan Africa. “In Africa, it’s a lot more challenging,” Buechley says. “It’s a darker story.” Potent newly affordable poisons are used to control predatory pests, such as lions or jackals. The poisons are so toxic that they can cascade through ecosystems: birds, mammals and insects are often found littering the area around these poisoned carcasses. But, as the predominant scavenger, vultures take the brunt of the poisoning and face the largest number of casualties. For example, an elephant carcass poisoned in Namibia in 2007 killed as many as 600 vultures. In other cases, vultures are the victims of poachers who poison carcasses so that vultures do not give away the location of illegally taken animals. “Vultures are taking the hit, indirectly, for a lot of this human-wildlife conflict, as well as the illegal trade in animal parts,” Buechley says. This crisis, unfortunately, is ongoing. From; http://energyskeptic.com/2017/why-vultures-are-so-important-and-dying-off/ -- source link
#poisons#wildlife destruction