Simon Thomsett

Category: vultures | Date: Aug 24 2009 | By: Laila Bahaa-el-din

Text and photographs by Laila Bahaa-el-din

Vultures are in trouble worldwide. In East Africa, the deliberate poisoning of carnivores is leading to the demise of vultures, while in southern Africa, vulture parts are used in witchcraft and in West Africa, loss of habitat and their use as bush meat are proving catastrophic. In South Asia, vulture populations plummeted by 95 percent in just a decade as a result of consuming the carcasses of cows that had been treated with the anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac. In Europe, strict health regulations mean that all carcasses are disposed of, leaving no food for the vultures.

Bearded Vulture at Ol Donyo Laro, Kenya

Hooded Vulture in the Mara, Kenya

What to do? The general public doesn’t get up in arms about vultures. We can’t make emotional appeals based around cute and cuddly animals. The world needs to sit up and take notice of this crisis, if not for the vultures’ sakes, then for their own. Vultures have the unfortunate reputation of being dirty. The truth is that they not only clean up everybody else’s mess by consuming carcasses that would otherwise encourage diseases and pests such as rats, but they also are meticulous in washing themselves, finding water to bathe in daily when they can.

Black Vulture head in the Osa, Costa Rica

Black Vultures in the Osa, Costa Rica

So it is that vultures need an image make-over and serious awareness-raising. September 5, 2009 is International Vulture Awareness Day so wherever you are in the world, do a little something that might help spread the message that vultures need our help and fast. Here in Kenya, the Raptor Working Group, made of biologists, photographers and other interested individuals, has been organising a fair at the National Museum for the weekend of September 5-6th. I will be dressing up as a vulture as part of the awareness-raising entertainment and hope to show children what fun animals vultures are. There is going to be a national art competition, puppet show, story-telling and other activities that will hopefully lead to people looking at vultures in a new light. If you’re in Nairobi, come and join us there.

Cape Vulture at Kransberg, South Africa

Cleanup Crew - King Vulture and Black Vultures in the Osa, Costa Rica

We owe a big Thank You to the African Bird Club which has been so generous in its sponsorship of the upcoming event.

To see how you can take part, visit the International Vulture Awareness Day Web site: www.ivad09.org

Egyptian Vulture at Ololokwe, Kenya

Young King Vultures in the Osa, Costa Rica
King Vulture in the Osa, Costa Rica

Lappet-faced Vulture in the Mara, Kenya

Long-billed Vulture at Bandhavgarh, India

Ruppell’s Vulture in the Mara, Kenya

Smooching Lappets in the Mara, Kenya

Turkey Vulture in the Osa, Costa Rica

Turkey Vulture over the Pacific on Costa Rican coast

White-headed Vulture female in Etosha, Namibia

Tags: help vultures, International Vulture Awareness Day, wildlife poisoning

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Category: Raptor Expedition | Date: Aug 19 2009 | By: simonthomsett

by Simon Thomsett

When I dropped off Laila at the airport in South Africa, I was immediately lost in the vast city of Pretoria. I knew I was in trouble when I passed the zoo twice. Without my navigator, I soon came to grief and this was not helped by having no road map and a GPS that drew a straight line across South Africa to my destination. After wasting hours in the city, and a nearby one called Johannesburg, I found a road heading west and took it. I then proceeded by compass bearing till I saw a few familiar place names. From there I headed north to Thabazimbi to meet up again with Dr. Pat Benson.

I had to wait two days longer because of visa problems before pushing on north through Botswana with very little money. I managed to drive most of Botswana in a day, seeing little of its natural beauty. The next day I crossed the Zambezi by ferry. All went smoothly until I got into the Zambian side. four and a half hours later I emerged from some five different immigration/importation procedures, to sit a few more hours in a traffic jam of buses and lorries before exiting the border post. Late, and with no hope of making it to Lusaka, I spent the night at Taita Falcon Lodge near Livingstone. From there to Lusaka where I met relatives of a friend in Nairobi keen to rush me some 180km further south to see raptors. I am ashamed to say I turned around leaving them to go on their own as I was exhausted. I use the word “exhausted” in a literal sense. The exhaust pipe was severed pouring gases into the front, making my head pound. The next two days I was able to join Stuart Simpson and his family and he helped enormously by fixing the exhaust in his workshop.

On the road, my mind perhaps lighter than usual from various noxious gases, I would think of the trip Laila and I experienced on the way down. Certain stretches of road were familiar, and specific songs played on Laila’s fractious and temperamental “iPod” would be recalled at precise places. On the way down south it was mystery ahead; on the way back this sense of adventure was much muted. It was too easy, and Africa too small.

It is saying much that throughout the return journey from South Africa to northern Tanzania, I saw not one raptor worth stopping to take a picture of. Only one section of less than 50km yielded anything in the way of raptors and that was through Mikumi. It is a national park in southern Tanzania through which, most unwisely, the main road runs through its heart. This section and from Nata to Kasane in Botswana as well as the winding roads near the Ndzungwa’s near Mikumi was the best in terms of a ’safari’ overland experience.

I started to use the GPS sparingly. Each time I needed to communicate, socialise or talk I turned it on. I cherished asking it questions. It was my pal in an empty car. My PDA meant to record all raptor sightings was also a good distraction. At night I pulled either into a campsite or off the road, ate and read “Great Expectations” before falling asleep.

The last part of the trip I was not looking forward to. I was going “home,” as a pigeon flies back to its loft. But I had no place to go to and this confused me. My small institute of rehab eagles and hawks in the bush no longer exists. I visited Rosy and Girl, my two eagle companions, but this was difficult for me to do. I will soon release Mutt the Bearded Vulture. I look forward to the rest of our trip, now that Laila has returned. We travel again searching for all of Africa’s raptors, at the moment in Kenya but soon in Ethiopia and the Congo. It is more important now, especially as we have had so much encouragement to complete this task. It will be much tougher than we had anticipated, and more costly, but it will be immensely rewarding.

Tags: great expectations, homeward bound, simon's trip from south africa

3 responses so far

Category: Raptor Expedition | Date: Aug 12 2009 | By: Laila Bahaa-el-din

Vultures have been getting a lot of attention recently what with the poisoning crisis in East Africa, but still so little is known about these vultures. In Kenya, eight species occur: the African White-backed, Ruppell’s, Lappet-faced, Hooded, Egyptian, Palm-nut, White-headed and Bearded, all of which are in decline, some catastrophically. It is with this in mind that Corinne Kendal has started her Ph.D. on vultures in the Mara. She is attaching satellite tags to vultures to see what distances they travel and where they go.

On my return to Kenya, we headed straight for the Mara to help Corinne catch vultures. We had a stop on the way to check up on Rosy and Girl. It seems Rosy’s eyes are getting slowly better. The fibrin that was building up in his eyes and stopping him from seeing has started to recede. He can find perches around his shed and fly to them. Sarah and Simon are delighted to see the positive change and we now all wait with crossed fingers to see if the fibrin continues to recede.

Rosy’s left eye looking a whole lot better

On arriving in the Mara, I was glad to be back in action. The park is crawling with wildlife now as the wildebeest and zebra migration is in full swing. Tens of thousands of animals can be seen grazing, or walking determinately towards the river crossings. This is a great time for the vultures as carcasses litter the Mara plains. The big cats have more food than they can cope with and leave behind almost full kills for scavengers. It seems that vultures come from far and wide to take advantage of the feast. Now finally, with the satellite tags, we will have an idea of where they really do come from and go back to. It seems some travel hundreds of kilometers to find food.

Many Wildebeest

We met with Munir Virani and Corinne to start catching vultures. On that first day, we successfully caught four vultures, all of different species. The Rüppell’s, White-backed and Lappet were all fitted with satellite tags while the Hooded Vulture, being too small for the satellite unit, was wing-tagged. Things went a little slower over the next few days. We separated from Corinne and combed the area for carcasses. As well as doing the trapping, Simon and I spent a lot of time at kills watching vulture behaviour. They seem all to have their own personalities, some being quite affectionate while others are more aggressive. We were amused to see two Lappet-faced Vultures, obviously a mated pair, being very aggressive to all the other vultures. They would chase off a group of vultures with their bills and talons outstretched, then come together again and smooch before going to beat up some more vultures.

Smooching Lappet-faced Vultures

On our last morning in the Mara, Simon climbed a tree with a large Lappet-faced Vulture chick in it. The chick will be fledging soon and it will be very interesting to see where it goes once it leaves its parents. Thanks to the satellite tag that Corinne attached to it, we’ll be able to follow its movements.

Simon climbing tree

Lappet chick in nest

Taking measurements of the Lappet (photo taken by Simon from the nest)

Due to electrical troubles with the car, we’ve had to leave the Mara for now. We will be going back in a couple of weeks to check on the vultures and see how Corinne’s work is going. You can follow what Corinne is up to in the Mara on her blog.

Tags: mara vultures, smooching lappets, vulture behavior, wildebeest migration

4 responses so far

Category: Eagle | Date: Jul 30 2009 | By: sheryl bottner

Guest post from Sarah Higgins of The Little Owl Sanctuary

Yesterday, July 25, a poor broken Fish Eagle was brought in. It had been found the previous evening trying desperately to fly and getting nowhere, so it was picked up, put in a cardboard box and brought round to me the following morning.

I checked it over and found a clean break up near the right shoulder but sadly it was a fairly old break and the three inches of exposed bone had the look of an old dog’s bone that had been buried for a week! The bird was underweight and desperately thirsty and had just about given up, although he was feisty enough when anyone approached him. I put him in a small compound and went to get some tape to immobilise the broken wing so that he didn’t keep tripping over it, and by the time I got back he was lying on the ground looking as if he really had had enough. In fact I wondered at that moment if he would make it, but as soon as I approached he threw himself on his back and threatened me with his talons (two of which are missing)!

I taped his bad wing to his body and showed him where the water was by splashing in the bowl. Once he had taken his eyes off my face long enough to glance at the source of the sound he fixed his gaze on the bowl. I quietly withdrew and left him to it and as soon as I shut the door he lolloped over to the bowl and drank and drank. Poor fellow, he must have been desperate.

New Fish Eagle at Little Owl Sanctuary

I rang the Vet who told me to bring him in, so I popped him into a large cardboard box and set off. It is a hundred mile drive to get to the Vet but, for someone as desperate as this poor bird, it was worth the journey. The Vet, a delightfully calm and confidence-inspiring man, checked the bird over and weighed him – he was just 2 kg (a healthy male bird should be 2.5 kgs and a female up to a kilo more!). Sadly, having seen the obvious age of the injury and subsequent lack of blood supply to the bone, it was decided that the only thing to do was to remove the wing.

I brought the bird back home after the operation and by late evening he was awake and thirsty again. The Vet had suggested that I should only give him water with glucose for that evening, which he gulped down. He spent the night in the bathroom where he was warm and safe and I could keep an eye on him. He produced a couple of ‘poops’ in the night so at least that side of things was still working well which is always good news.

This morning we tried him on a small fish which he ate greedily. He had another for lunch and another two for supper. He is still rather miserable and unsure of all the things that are happening to him and around him, but at least he has stopped looking fierce and putting his one good wing out at me every time I approach and is now allowing me to come close and talk to him.

I am referring to him as a ‘he’ as I am really hoping that he is but am not entirely sure yet. Bogoria, our resident mono-winged lady Fish Eagle, would be delighted to have a male companion all of her own!

Tags: little owl sanctuary, new fish eagle at little owl, sarah higgins

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