02 Sep 2020

Botswana will Saturday join the global community in commemorating international vulture awareness day, director of Birdlife Botswana has revealed.

In an interview with BOPA, Mr Motshereganyi Kootsositse said Chobe had been scheduled to host the day’s activities which had been cancelled due to COVID-19.

The Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism would however deliver a message on protection of vultures under the theme, “I want my Botswana vultures alive not dead”, he said.

Mr Kootsositse said for the past two years, the day had been commemorated through songs, plays, poetry and artwork produced by students. 

He complained that vultures were one of the bird species that were not given attention and yet was in danger of extinction.

Mr Kootsositse said vultures were mostly killed by poachers intentionally and inadventently by farmers targetting predators through use of chemicals.

He observed that failure to undertake preservation measures of vultures would render the species extinct as unlike other birds they laid only one egg every two years.

Mr Kootsositse said as part of conserving vultures in Chobe, which had one of the highest vulture population in the country, Birdlife Botswana was  planning to train stakeholders.

Among those considered for training, he mentioned law enforcement officers on how to respond to vulture poisoning  cases and farmers on proper disposal of chemicals to avoid vulture, fish and wildlife poisoning in general.

Meanwhile, senior wildlife warden Ms Babusi Latiwa who has been addressing kgotla meetings to deter farmers from using chemicals to kill predators enumerated threats to vultures in Botswana.

Among the threats, she mentioned veld fires as they destroyed vulture habitats as well as deforestation.

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and also conduct outreach programmes to children..

Ms Latiwa confirmed reports that poachers poisoned vultures as a way of distracting wildlife officers from their criminal activities.

In 2016, she said, 65 vultures were found dead and decomposed in the Kgomotshetlhana cattle post  near Parakarungu.

As a way of conserving vultures, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks had developed breeding sites at Manyelanong,  South East District and Lesoma,  Chobe District.

She said globally there were 10 types of vultures, seven of them found in Botswana with the cape vulture being the most common.

Ms Latiwa implored farmers to help preserve vultures because they had a strong digestive system that could help reduce the spread of anthrax and Foot and Mouth Disease.

 

In addition, vultures helped farmers to locate carcasses of their cattle, he said.BOPA