Mystery over vulture poisoning

2005-10-13 11:56

Hoedspruit - Twenty-seven vultures have died after feeding on the carcass of a kudu poisoned to death on a farm outside Hoedspruit.

At least 18 more of the birds have survived ingesting the poison, Curater, on the farm Antioch, 20km outside Hoedspruit.

The birds killed were mostly white-backed vultures, but included the rarer hooded vultures. Both species are listed as vulnerable to extinction.

It was the worst vulture poisoning he knew of in the past two years, said Tim Snow, of the Endangered Wildlife Trust's Poison Working Group.

Curater, or carbofuran, was one of the top ten wildlife toxins, said Snow.

Deadly

It was only slightly less deadly than the poison Temik - known as "two-step" - used to kill five white rhino and 25 antelope in the far north of Limpopo earlier this year. Both poisons are meant to be used to kill worms in agricultural soil.

Farmer Frans Louw thought the kudu had died of a snakebite when he found its carcass on Saturday, but when vultures started dying on Tuesday, he called in Brian Jones, of Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre.

Jones found scores of vultures dead on the ground or crawling around vomiting near the carcass, and took the 18 living birds for treatment.

"If they survive the next four to five days, we will have pulled them through," he said.

When they had completely recovered, they would be released at the vulture restaurant at Moholoholo, he said.

Jones appealed to farmers to burn or report animals that died suspicious deaths.

Sensitive

"Farmers are the most important conservationists. They need to realise that they are in a sensitive system and must be more conscientious," he said.

Green peppers laced with the blue, granular Curater were found in the vicinity of the kudu carcass, as were a number of snares.

Louw acknowledged keeping the poison on his property, but said it was stored in a locked cupboard and last used months ago.

Both Curater and green peppers can be found on several nearby farms.

Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism nature conservation officials as well as the police, who were also called into investigate, have said it would be hard to find "solid proof" of who carried out the poisoning.

- SAPA