Nigeria risks epidemics as vultures go extinct

By Chidimma C. Okeke

 Published Date Sep 18, 2019 0:47 AM

Nigeria is losing free ecological services as vultures go extinct in the country. The carrion feeders are a vital part of the ecosystem. They provide important ecosystem services that contribute to human health and wellbeing.

These services include removing carcasses and other organic waste from the environment, thereby, reducing the spread of diseases and contamination of water supplies.

Vultures, despite these services they render naturally are, however, faced with general population decline worldwide with a seven per cent decline yearly for the past three decades

The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list of threatened species said vultures are among the most threatened group of migratory birds in the world. As Nigeria joined the rest of the world to commemorate the International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD) on the first Saturday of September, a day set aside by the global body to highlight the importance of vultures and their conservation, it was observed that the birds are fast going into extinction.

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Endangered Vultures Killed for Rituals in Nigeria

ENUGU, NIGERIA - Across Nigeria, there's a rising demand for vultures, and poachers are driving the local population of four large vulture species to near extinction.

The Nigerian Conservation Foundation is now placing vulture preservation high on its agenda, hoping to revive the threatened population. Abidemi Balogun, a senior special conservation officer with the foundation's educational unit, is engaging with local communities where superstitions and folklore about the birds persist.

"Someone actually asked me how do they identity the evil ones because there's been a belief that vultures are evil birds," Balogun told VOA with a laugh.

She's been with the foundation for eight years and said vulture poaching was not taken seriously in the past.

Spiritual practices

She said that the birds aren't being hunted for consumption as much as they're being killed for spiritual practices. In 2017, the foundation conducted a market survey to see how the birds were traded.

"Some of the findings that we made is that the head is used for ritual purposes and the head is the most expensive part of it," she said.

In local markets, vulture feathers are sold for about 100 naira, or less than 50 cents. But the head can fetch up to 25,000 naira, or about $70.

In Nigeria's diverse cultural landscape, the beliefs around vultures vary widely. In the southwest, where they're called igún, vultures are seen as sacred in traditional spirituality. According to folklore, they can be used to communicate with the dead or to appease the gods in elaborate sacrificial ceremonies.

In northern Nigeria, they are consumed. But they're also sold by traders known as yan shinfida to be used in traditional medicine and spiritual healing.

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Nigeria: Bird From Germany Lands in Kebbi Fisherman's Net

By Garba Muhammad

Birnin Kebbi — A bird from the Animal Research Centre, Germany, landed in the net of a fisherman in Zaria Kala-Kala, Koko-Besse Local Government Area of Kebbi State.

Manager, State Livestock Investigation and Breading Centre, Dr Yakubu Dominic, while displaying the bird to journalists yesterday in Birnin Kebbi, said, "some days ago, a fisherman came to us with the bird that carries some identification mark which indicates that it may have flown to Nigeria from Germany. He got trapped in the fisherman's net while trying to drink water".

He said the bird was quarantined and samples taken have been sent to Vom for further investigation.

"The bird could be carrying the Bird-flu virus. That is why we quarantined it and sent blood sample to Vom," Dominic said.

The manager added that the bird belongs to the Eagle family adding, "You know that they are carnivorous; they eat flesh. So, we feed it with fish or meat. We are not surprised that a bird flew in from Germany, because some time ago, we found a bird that flew in from Finland".

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Bizzare: Bird Turns To Woman In Lagos

MATTHEW DIKE— May 22, 2014

A bizzare occurrence took place in Ajegunle area of Lagos State yesterday, when a bird that was flying in the sky, fell and transformed into an old woman.

Those who witnessed the incident which occurred on Ojo Road expressed shock at the development.

A witness who only gave his name as Emeka narrated that he was sitting in front of a compound with his lover when they saw three black birds in the air flying as if they were playing and he jocularly told his lover, Kemi that two of the birds could be male, fighting over the only female one. He said barely had they finished laughing over the joke when one of the birds fell and landed on a moving pick-up van belonging to the Eko Electricity Distribution Company, while the rest flew away.

Emeka said the bird then, fell on the floor and suddenly turned into an old woman, with blood gushing out of her forehead, as she rolled on the road.

He said a large crowd was attracted to the scene and the woman confessed to being a witch from Ibadan and that she came for a meeting in Lagos and was going back when the incident occurred.

The source said the woman told the bewildered crowd that they missed their way which was why they were hovering in the air till daybreak, adding that she fell because of tiredness.

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