How endangered vultures died at Maasai Mara

Reports have emerged that twenty endangered vultures have died at Maasai Mara National Reserve after poisoning.

Five others that were critically ill were treated with Atropine and later released after a researcher at the Mara Conservancy Eric Reson discovered the deaths on January 27.

According to him, all vultures had fed on a poisoned spotted hyena at the periphery of the Reserve.

Reson immediately mobilized personnel from Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Bird of Prey Trust, Nature Kenya among others to avert some of the deaths.

The group immediately burnt the hyena and the poisoned vultures to decontaminate the scene.

“The work of multiple partners has ensured that mortalities from poisoning events are at a bare minimum. This work will eventually stamp out wildlife poisoning altogether,” Nature Kenya Executive Director Paul Matiku said.

Vulture Conservation Manager for Birdlife International Rebecca Garbett said illegal wildlife poisoning is a huge problem for the future survival of vultures and carnivores across the continent.

“When scavengers and carnivores are lost from an ecosystem, the remaining imbalance can cause unexpected human and livestock health problems,”
she said.

“The good news is that we have a strong network of people at all levels, working together to respond to a poisoning incident, saving birds from dying, and creating awareness about the value of vultures for the Masai Mara and beyond.”

In the past two years, the planned poisoning of two prides of lions was averted, and the overall poisoning of vultures in the Masai Mara has been reduced by more than 50 per cent.

The existence of vultures is crucial to society because they are productive and provide countless environmental services to humanity and biodiversity.

Their survival is not just protected by Kenya’s obligations under international law, but also under Kenya’s Vision 2030 commitments.