At least 123 vultures died in South Africa’s flagship national park after eating the carcass of a poisoned elephant, park authorities and an animal conservation group said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The elephant was reportedly laced with agricultural pesticides by poachers.<\/p>\n
Another 83 vultures that were rescued from the site and transported for treatment by helicopter or a special vulture ambulance are still recovering.<\/p>\n
The mass poisoning was one of the worst seen in the famous Kruger National Park in northern South Africa, said SANParks, the national parks agency.<\/p>\n
Vultures are key to wildlife ecosystems because of the clean-up work they do, feeding on the carcasses of dead animals.<\/p>\n
But that also makes them especially vulnerable to poisoning by poachers, either intentionally or as a result of the killing of other animals.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of vultures typically feed on a single carcass.<\/p>\n
The elephant had been poisoned by poachers in a remote part of the huge park to harvest its body parts for the illegal wildlife trade, SANParks and the Endangered Wildlife Trust said.<\/p>\n
Many vulture species are endangered in Africa because of poisoning and other threats. The affected birds in Kruger included Cape vultures, endangered lappet-faced vultures and critically-endangered white-backed and hooded vultures.<\/p>\n
“This horrific incident is part of a broader crisis unfolding across southern Africa: the escalating use of poisons in wildlife poaching,” SANParks and the Endangered Wildlife Trust said in their joint statement.<\/p>\n
“Poachers increasingly use agricultural toxins to target high-value species.”<\/p>\n
The Kruger National Park covers approximately 20,000 square kilometres and is nearly twice the size of small countries like Jamaica and Qatar.<\/p>\n
Rangers say they face a daily battle to guard species like rhinos, elephants and lions from poachers.<\/p>\n
Vulture conservation organisation Vulpro, which was not involved in the rescue, said the poisoning came at the start of the breeding season.<\/p>\n
Many other birds that weren’t found at the site could still be affected, it added.<\/p>\n