Saving Wild Cats

AFRICA
Africa has seen a similar rate of population decline
as India and other parts of Asia. The causes however
are different and unlike in Asia, there has been little
or no government support in vulture conservation.
This may be due to the fact that in Asia, the cause of
population decline can be put down to one specific
reason. In Africa however there are multiple causes and
these also vary from region to region. This may prevent
governments from getting involved, as there is no clear
focus or strategy to work from.
Poisoning and poaching appear to be the main causes
of the decline of vulture populations. In West Africa,
the decrease in vulture numbers has been linked to
poisoning and hunting for medicine and food. In
Eastern Africa, studies in Kenya and Uganda suggest
that poisoning through the use of Ferdan as an
agricultural pesticide may be a major cause. Despite
these findings and a plea to the Kenyan government
to ban the sale of such pesticides no action has so far
been taken. There have been dramatic decreases in
population numbers of other species and so such a ban
or at least stricter control is imperative for the sake of
other wildlife as well as vultures. In Kenya, without
vultures, the time taken for the decomposition of a
carcass was shown to triple. The number of mammals,
the time they spent at a carcass and the contact each had
with other scavengers also increased. This suggests that
a decreased vulture presence could result in diseases
being transmitted between animals at carcasses.
Another way that vultures play an important role in the
environment is by indicating to predators the location
of a potential food source through their scavenging
behaviour. This has been shown to occur with hyenas
and lions although vultures are at a distinct advantage
given their aerial point of view and the ability to arrive
at a food source rapidly and in larger numbers. This aid
in detecting a food source however does encourage the
flow of energy within the ecosystem.
In some parts of Africa, certain species are considered
to be extinct. In Morocco, the lappet faced vulture
(Torgos tracheliotus) and the cinereous vulture are no
longer present. Globally, they are classified as vulnerable
and near threatened respectively. In Southern Africa,
the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percriopterus) is
now extinct as a breeding species and is considered
endangered.
Africa
Fig 21 : The lappet faced vulture (Torgos
tracheliotus) is extinct in parts of Africa.
The lappet
faced vulture
is extinct in
Morocco
The Egyptian
vulture is
extinct in
Southern
Africa
Fig 22 :The Egyptian vulture (Neophron
percriopterus) is now classed as endangered.