By Bernard Gitau
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has announced plans to spend Sh18 million over the next three years to install GPS tracking devices on vultures. This initiative aims to enable faster responses to poisoning incidents, which are a major cause of vulture deaths in Kenya. According to the Ministry of Wildlife and Tourism, the GPS trackers will allow rangers and other stakeholders to monitor vulture movements, helping to reduce both vulture fatalities and environmental contamination.
Silvia Museiya, the Principal Secretary of the State Department for Wildlife, expressed deep concern over the alarming decline in vulture populations over the last three decades.
“Research indicates that some of Africa’s vultures have experienced population declines ranging from 70% to 97% over the past three decades. These figures highlight the urgent need for action to reverse this decline,” Museiya stated.
Poisoning: The Leading Cause of Vulture Deaths
A report from the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife highlights that poisoning is the most significant threat to vultures. Four of Kenya’s eight vulture species are now classified as Critically Endangered, including the White-headed, Hooded, White-backed, and Rüppell’s vultures. Additionally, the Lappet-faced and Egyptian vultures are listed as Endangered. Vultures often fall victim to poisoned carcasses, which herders and poachers lace with synthetic pesticides aimed at killing predators like lions, leopards, hyenas, and jackals.
Though the use of pesticides for poisoning is illegal in Kenya, enforcement of these regulations is weak, contributing to mass die-offs among vulture populations. In one case in 1981, the use of Fenthion, a pesticide for killing quelea birds, led to the deaths of Egyptian Vultures and other birds of prey near Mt. Kenya.
According to the Ministry’s action plan, concocted cattle dips, veterinary drugs like diclofenac sodium, and poisons such as firocoxib, aspirin, and ketoprofen have also been linked to vulture fatalities. Diclofenac, a veterinary drug, caused the collapse of at least three species of vultures in Asia after they consumed contaminated livestock carcasses.
Slow Reproduction Rates Worsen Decline
Vultures are unique in their long lifespan, with an average life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. However, they reproduce slowly, typically laying just one egg per year. They reach sexual maturity at five years of age, making population recovery a slow process. The action plan notes that once vulture populations decline, it may take 5 to 10 years before any significant recovery is seen.
“Given that the vultures reproduce slowly and their populations require high numbers of breeding pairs to be sustainable, once their population has declined it will take at least 5-10 years before any reversals may be seen,” the plan stated.
Cleaning Up the Environment
Despite their often negative portrayal, vultures play a crucial role in keeping the environment clean by consuming dead animals. To combat the vulture population decline, KWS, in collaboration with conservation groups like Nature Kenya, BirdLife International, and The Peregrine Fund, has launched the 2024 Vulture Multi-species Action Plan.
The plan includes rescue and rehabilitation centers aimed at stabilizing and increasing vulture populations. These centers care for injured or grounded birds, rehabilitate them, and release as many as possible back into the wild. Currently, Kenya has two such facilities: Kenya Bird of Prey, with permanent centers in Naivasha and Soysambu, and the Raptor Rehabilitation Trust in Nairobi, which is currently home to three unreleasable vultures. The centers respond to approximately 45 emergencies annually, with most cases involving poisoning.
Future Plans for Vulture Conservation
KWS is also focusing on enhancing research and monitoring efforts. Plans include conducting national censuses every five years, developing a national vulture monitoring protocol, and deploying GPS tags to track mortality rates. The action plan details the deployment and maintenance of at least 30 GPS tracking devices every five years in critical vulture habitats, at an estimated cost of Sh18 million. Additionally, each vulture population census will cost Sh5 million.
With these efforts, KWS and its partners hope to reverse the sharp decline in Kenya’s vulture population, ensuring their survival for future generations.
