Latest news with #vultures
Wall Street Journal
6 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Trump's Old High School Is in Trouble (Again). Can a Chinese Businessman Fix It?
For the second time in a decade, it is up to a Chinese entrepreneur to make President Trump's high school great again. Like some of the 20th-century American institutions whose decline Trump laments, the 136-year-old New York Military Academy is in bad shape. Roof tiles are broken on century-old buildings and, on one recent visit, a reporter spotted a family of vultures nestled atop a chimney.
Hindustan Times
01-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Waterholes a lifeline for wildlife amid peak summer
As Uttar Pradesh goes through peak summer, animals in the core forest areas are heavily dependant on waterholes to keep themselves hydrated at a time when most of the natural sources have dried up. Around 350 ponds/saucer pits have been prepared/rejuvenated in core forest areas, with Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) and Kartaniyaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) being the focused ones where state's majority feline reside. 'This year, number of solar waterpumps and waterholes have been increased. The requirement was assessed via field survey, and hopefully it will serve the purpose,' said Sunil Chaudhary, principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) and head of forest force, Uttar Pradesh. According to 2022 Census, UP is home to 205 tigers and the State recorded 18.49% rise in tiger count. The DTR has been ranked fourth among tiger reserves in India, with a tiger population of 135. The DTR has Suheli and Mohana rivers, tributaries of Ghaghra river, flowing through the forest areas, but during summer, these water bodies flow with little or no water, making it tough for animals to quench their thirst. The KWS has Ghaghra and Girwa rivers, along with numerous swamps and wetlands, under a fragile Terai ecosystem. But the sanctuary undergoes a notable shift between April and June. There are three types of waterholes - first are natural waterholes (geological depressions), like small ponds or lakes. They are a key source of water for wildlife the as routes to such waterholes are in the memory of animals. But as majority of them dry up during summer, man-made waterholes become the only dependable option. The second are manmade waterholes. These are fed water by boring deep into the earth surface with the help of waterpumps, both electrical and solar. At least 10 waterholes in DTR have solar waterpumps that run for a specific period only during daytime. The third type, which is also man made, is the waterhole fed water with the help of pumps fitted on rickshaw trolley. The forest staff take the trolley from one location to another and feed water into ponds. At many places ponds are made of cement. 'Animals look for water during day, hence solar water pumps are fit for the purpose,' said H Rajamohan, director, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR). KWS is home to a number of endangered species including gharial, tiger, rhino, Gangetic Dolphin, swamp deer, Hispid hare, Bengal florican, the White-backed and Long-billed vultures in a total area of 400.9 sq km. DTR represents one of the few outstanding examples of an extremely varied Terai ecosystem, supporting a large number of endangered species. It is the largest and thickest forest reserve of India. Pilibhit Tiger Reserve deputy director Manish Singh said: 'We have 38 waterholes, of which 24 are solar pump equipped. Though monsoon is expected to arrive early, water holes are playing a crucial role in the current situation.' 'Cemented water ponds are created on forest routes that lack natural water sources. Such ponds are fed with water by trolley-mounted pumps once a day. They are deep and long enough to store water for over a day,' said a senior forest official. A tiger might drink up to 30 litres of water in a day, depending upon the heat. Water pumps fitted at one place have a drawback - big animals such as elephants often damage these pumps. Hence, these are under constant watch, and at some places, have been replaced with trolley-mounted pumps.
The Herald
19-05-2025
- Health
- The Herald
102 vultures killed in Mpumalanga, third mass poisoning this month
Conservationists say 102 critically endangered vultures have been found fatally poisoned in Mpumalanga. Vulpro and the Wild and Free Rehabilitation Centre in Mpumalanga said 92 white-backed vultures, of which 90% were breeding adults, nine hooded vultures and one male adult white-headed vulture were found dead in a game reserve near Marloth Park, Mpumalanga. The scene was located through real-time GPS tracking of several vultures previously rehabilitated and released by Vulpro and Wild and Free. Many carcasses were found lying around a warthog carcass. Two more carcasses were discovered by air. No body parts were taken. "Samples have been collected and will be submitted for toxicological testing to identify the poison used and supporting possible legal action," the organisations said. This is the third mass poisoning this month, with more than 120 killed after eating off an elephant carcass and 49 from a giraffe carcass in the Kruger National Park. "The scale of the poisoning is devastating," said Kerri Wolter, CEO of Vulpro. "To lose this number of vultures, let alone adult breeding birds, during breeding season is an ecological crisis." Vulpro appealed to rehabilitation centres to stop releasing vultures in the area until the threat is investigated and mitigated. TimesLIVE
Mail & Guardian
09-05-2025
- Mail & Guardian
Mass vulture poisoning in Kruger triggers historic wildlife-rescue operation
A total of 116 vultures were found dead. (Photo: SANParks) At least 123 A joint team of The incident marked one of the largest mass poisoning events ever witnessed in the Kruger. A total of 116 vultures were found dead at the scene in the Mahlangeni section, the EWT and SANParks said in a joint statement on Thursday. The EWT's pioneering wildlife poisoning surveillance and detection system triggered an alert at 6:05am on Tuesday. The SANParks and EWT team arrived on site by 8:20am where they made their grim find. The elephant carcass was laced with highly toxic agrochemical pesticides by poachers to harvest body parts for the The initial responders — six SANParks rangers and two EWT officials — found two vultures alive roughly 500m from the carcass. They were immediately treated with atropine, activated charcoal and fluid. Reinforcements were swiftly deployed, the organisations said. Support teams from the This was the first time SANParks helicopters were used in a wildlife poisoning rescue of this scale. What followed was a coordinated, high-intensity rescue of 84 vultures, including white-backed, Cape and hooded vultures. Forty-five of the birds were transported by the EWT's Eighty-four vultures were found alive. (Photo: SANParks) Thirty-nine vultures were airlifted by helicopter to the SANParks K9 facility in Phalaborwa for immediate monitoring. A final group was transported later that night to Moholoholo for continued intensive care. Teams, including vets from WildScapes and Briner Veterinary Services, as well as the Moholoholo team, worked through the night to stabilise each bird and keep them alive. A remarkable 96% survival rate was achieved, with only five of the vultures found alive dying. As of Thursday, 83 vultures are still alive and recovering. 'It's probably one of the best survival rates ever,' said John Davies, the EWT's Birds of Prey programme project coordinator: raptor conservation and research. 'Obviously we're not at the point to 100% say we're out of the woods yet; you kind of want to wait maybe a few days before we can be really confident about that. 'We've separated the birds into batches … this afternoon we're going to start moving them into flight enclosures — the ones that are almost showing no signs of poisoning anymore.' This would provide a better opportunity to assess how they are doing and to ensure they are eating well before release. 'So far, all the birds that arrived alive at the [Moholoholo] rehab centre are still surviving, which is fantastic.' Martial Rappo, the manager of the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, said the surviving vultures were being monitored around the clock, 'giving them fluids and keeping them hydrated, monitoring their temperature and constantly attending to them'. The scale of the poisoning is 'staggering', SANParks and the EWT said, noting that 123 vultures were found dead at the scene — 102 white-backed vultures, 20 Cape vultures and one Lappet-faced vulture — which are all listed as endangered or critically endangered species. 'This marks one of the largest vulture poisoning events in Southern Africa and the most extensive coordinated response effort and rescues to date,' they said, noting that more than 20 people from the conservation, veterinary and enforcement sectors played a role in the rescue and response. Increased use of poisons This incident is part of a broader crisis in Southern Africa: the escalating use of poison in wildlife poaching. 'Poachers increasingly use agricultural toxins to target high-value species — not just vultures, but also lions, whose body parts are in growing demand for traditional medicine or muti,' the EWT and SANParks said. The poisoning is a setback to the vulture population in the Greater Kruger landscape, which is trying to recover from similar incidents in the past. SANParks is collaborating with various agencies and institutions to address the current increase particularly in poisoning incidents. 'The latest operation highlights the importance of partnerships in addressing this problem. The recovery and treatment of the live vultures would not have been possible if such partnerships were not in place.' Davies said GPS tracking technology is crucial in saving vultures in poisoning incidents in remote protected areas. 'We use GPS tracking in a very significant way throughout Africa on vultures. The previous evening, we got an alert from two of our [tracked] birds, saying 'suspected mortality'. When that happens, obviously that requires an accelerated response and that's why the next morning people managed to fly and confirm.' Vultures fly vast distances, he said. A white-backed vulture will quite easily cover 120km to 150km every day on foraging. 'They encounter feeding sites and carcasses all the time and if any of these birds die at the site, and the poisons are very fast-acting so they do kill them pretty rapidly, it means yes, unfortunately a bunch of birds have been affected, but it allows you the opportunity to find these poaching events as they occur, rather than a month later.' He said multiple veterinarians had given significant input on treatment protocols. 'Now, we've refined and simplified them so the survival rate is typically around 95% to 98% if we can find birds that are alive. Using GPS tracking technology means we can find these in pretty remote protected areas throughout the continent.' Such vulture poisonings are not restricted to the Kruger or South Africa, he added. 'They have been happening for years and years. It does seem to be accelerating over time or it may be an end result of just more birds being tracked and finding more of these locations.' Davies said that throughout Africa the number of vultures that are being poisoned is astronomical. 'The estimates for all human-induced mortalities for vultures, 90% of that is down to wildlife poisoning and every other threat collectively only contributes about 10% of these mortalities.' SANParks and the EWT commended every individual who responded to this tragedy. 'Their courage, skill, and relentless commitment transformed a potential extinction-level event into one of the most successful vulture rescues ever recorded.' The operation saw helicopters making multiple trips between the incident site and Phalaborwa throughout the day to assist with the movement of the vultures. 'We are so fortunate in that there are so many people that are just willing to jump in and be a part of it,' Davies said. 'Obviously, the great thing from SANParks — I'm sure everyone understands they are under a lot of pressure with poaching — but their response is really commendable. 'We kind of felt there might be an issue at this location the previous evening and spoke to the section rangers and at first light the next morning, they were already flying with a fixed wing to confirm what was happening. Even from the air, we already had the first confirmation that we need to get there and from the point where we got the first message, I think we had the first person rehabbing birds in an hour and 32 minutes.' This accelerated response in quite remote areas of the Kruger was fantastic, Davies said. 'From SANParks side, being able to contribute a helicopter for the entire day, which is not a cheap undertaking, and a lot of birds being shuttled from the air. 'We also had a really great pilot from the Lowveld in a separate helicopter — Jana Meyer from Hope for Wildlife — she was using the other helicopter, just moving birds and finding additional birds. It really was an incredible effort with a lot of veterinarians involved.' He said that 'loads of volunteers' chipped in too. 'Even when the birds arrived here [at Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre], they helped treat and hold the birds. It's very time consuming and the more people the better.' Rappo added: 'On the one hand, it's obviously very sad for us to see how many birds have passed and it's quite a tragedy. On the other hand, for us as a rehabilitation centre, we would never have been able to get all of these birds through to where we are at this stage without the help of all the organisations. 'It's very discouraging to see what's happening and at same time, it's encouraging if a lot of people work together, a lot of organisations and SANParks, how much one can achieve to at least stop it or at least fight against it. We hope that we will continue; that these vultures stay alive and will soon be able to return back into the wild and hopefully stay safe there.'
Reuters
08-05-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Vultures rescued from mass poisoning in South African game reserve
JOHANNESBURG, May 8 (Reuters) - South African park rangers and a local wildlife organisation rescued more than 80 vultures from a mass poisoning in the country's Kruger National Park this week, though they were unable to save over 120 vultures. South African National Parks (SANParks) and the Endangered Wildlife Trust said it was one of the largest vulture poisoning events in Southern Africa. Officials from the organisations suspect poachers are to blame as they are increasingly using agricultural toxins to target species whose body parts are in demand for traditional medicine. Some of the vultures rescued are classified as endangered or critically endangered, including the white-backed vulture. The rescue was made possible by a wildlife-poisoning detection system in a remote section of the Kruger park. After being alerted to suspicious activity, the rangers who arrived on site discovered 116 dead vultures near an elephant carcass laced with poison. The death toll later rose to 123 vultures as more birds died on the way to a rehabilitation centre. SANParks spokesperson Ike Phaahla told Reuters it was not clear which species the poachers were targeting but said the incident was concerning because the vultures that were killed only breed once a year.
