Jan. 30, 2013 — A first ever study of the
range and habits of white-backed vultures across southern Africa shows that
they often shun national parks, preferring to forage further afield on private farmland.
This behaviour and their tendency to scavenge in
groups, means that vultures risk encountering dead cattle that have been administered
veterinary drugs that are poisonous to them, or even poisoned carcasses
intended to control other carnivores such as jackals.
The research, using Global Positioning System
(GPS) satellite transmitters to track the movements of adolescent vultures, is
published in the journal PLOS ONE.
The white-backed vulture is a widespread but
declining species in Africa and it is now listed as endangered. In India,
several vulture species are on the verge of extinction due to accidental
poisoning from cattle carcasses that contain anti-inflammatory drugs
administered by farmers. These drugs are non-lethal to cattle yet fatal to
vultures. There is a concern that these drugs could become more widely used in
Africa.
Vultures prefer to feed in savannah grassland
habitats and away from other competing carnivores, such as lions, and the new
study shows that the birds will go to considerable lengths to find food,
crossing multiple state boundaries, with each bird on average ranging across an
area twice the size of England.
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