Countries Meet to Tackle Massive Poisoning of Birds in Southern Africa

Bonn/Cape Town, 21 August 2015 – Representatives of countries and wildlife experts are meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, to address poisoning of migratory birds, a problem that also threatens important predators. The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) and the CMS Memorandum of Understanding on Birds of Prey, all three instruments administered by the United Nations Environment Programme, have convened the international meeting.

Government officials from eight countries in Southern Africa, experts and UN agencies are coming together to discuss how best to implement the global guidelines on poisoning of migratory birds. The guidelines were adopted by more than 100 countries at the Conference of the Parties to CMS in November 2014.  They instruct countries how to prevent or control poisoning from agricultural pesticides, poison baits, veterinary pharmaceutical treatment and the use of lead for hunting and fishing. Pesticides and poison baits are particularly widespread in the southern African region.

Large numbers of birds are killed annually as a result of poisoning. In Africa, migratory raptors - and vultures in particular - have been subject to steep population declines in recent years. A specialized agreement on migratory birds of prey concluded under CMS - the CMS Raptors MOU - highlights the risk for these scavengers. 

Poisoning caused African vultures to decline by more than 60 per cent as a result of both direct and unintentional killing. They feed on carcasses that are baited with highly toxic agricultural pesticides to kill livestock predators such as lions, hyenas and jackals or to control feral dogs.

Carbofuran, a pesticide which is strictly controlled in the United States, Canada and the European Union, is still used in the rice fields of Eastern Africa as a pest control against birds and locusts. Despite high levels of contamination, birds are coveted as bushmeat by consumers as a source of protein.

Vultures are killed for traditional medicine because they are perceived to foresee the future. By consuming vulture meat, consumers hope to acquire this talent. Vultures that circle over rhinos or elephants killed by poachers help reveal their wildlife crimes to rangers. As a result, poachers poison the carcasses to kill the birds and avoid being detected.

The CMS guidelines recommend prohibiting the use of poison baits for predator control, creating legislation or improving enforcement of existing laws, and restricting access to highly toxic substances.  At a national level, hunting wildlife using poison is illegal in more than 80 per cent of African countries.

At the meeting, countries that are members of CMS, the Raptors MOU and AEWA will discuss an implementation plan to strengthen law enforcement and implement the poisoning guidelines in Southern Africa. The idea is to replicate the model in other parts of the world later to assist countries in their efforts to prevent poisoning of migratory birds.