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VULTURES IN SERIOUS TROUBLE
Long-term solutions needed
for vulture conservation
Photos and text by Stefan Rust
2013
(In terms of the Geneva Convention the copyright of these texts belong to
Stefan Rust)
With hundreds of vultures being poisoned at one carcass
one can’t but wonder, how long will one still see these scavengers soaring?
Facts, figures and vulture conservation strategies were explained to the public
by a talk of Peter Bridgeford and David Joubert, held on the 29th of August in
Windhoek.
Hundreds of poisoned vultures in one incident
As Mr. Joubert, a lecturer and researcher at the Polytechnic
of Namibia, stated, the loss of six Lappet-faced Vultures equals the loss of
sixty elephants or rhinos. The reproduction rate of vultures is just as slow as
that of for example elephant and rhino and the ecological importance of the
vultures is just as valuable or even more. But why doesn’t the kill of hundreds
of vultures within one incident in the Caprivi strip in Namibia through
poisoning, touch the broad public as does the killing of rhinos? Is it a matter
of size, because the rhino or elephant is easier to observe than a vulture that
flies high up in the sky? Most probably!
Isn’t it time to pay attention to small animals on this
planet as well, not only to the big animals everybody can see? That is the
reason why bird conservation and tourism (BirdsConTour) rewarded Mr. Peter
Bridgeford from “Vultures in Namibia” with a five penguin-rated and Mr. David
Joubert with a four penguin-rated Bird & Birder Friendly Award for their
efforts in vulture conservation.
David Joubert and Peter
Bridgeford giving talks about vultures and vulture conservation
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