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Old World vulture

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Old World vultures
Temporal range: Miocene-Holocene[1] 20.4–0 Ma
Lappet-faced vultures (left) and a white-backed vulture
Lappet-faced vultures (left) and a white-backed vulture
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Groups included

Old World vultures are vultures that are found in the Old World, i.e. the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and which belong to the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, buzzards, kites, and hawks.

Old World vultures are not closely related to the superficially similar New World vultures and condors, and do not share that group's good sense of smell. The similarities between the two groups of vultures are due to convergent evolution, rather than a close relationship. They were widespread in both the Old World and North America during the Neogene. Old World vultures are probably a polyphyletic group within Accipitridae, belonging to two separate not closely related groups within the family.[2] Most authorities refer to two major clades: Gypaetinae (Gypaetus, Gypohierax and Neophron) and Aegypiinae (Aegypius, Gyps, Sarcogyps, Torgos, Trigonoceps and possibly Necrosyrtes). The former seem to be nested with Perninae hawks, while the latter are closely related and possibly even synonymous with Aquilinae.[3] Within Aegypiinae, Torgos, Aegypius, Sarcogyps and Trigonoceps are particularly closely related and possibly within the same genus.[4][5] Despite the name of the group, "Old World" vultures were widespread in North America until relatively recently, until the end of the Late Pleistocene epoch around 11,000 years ago.[6]

Both Old World and New World vultures are scavenging birds, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals. Old World vultures find carcasses exclusively by sight. A particular characteristic of many vultures is a semi-bald head, sometimes without feathers or with just simple down. Historically, it was thought that this was due to feeding habits, as feathers would be glued with decaying flesh and blood. However, more recent studies have shown that it is actually a thermoregulatory adaptation to avoid facial overheating; the presence or absence of complex feathers seems to matter little in feeding habits, as some vultures are quite raptorial.[4][5][7]

Species

Subfamily Genus Common and binomial names Image Range
Gypaetinae Gypaetus Bearded vulture
(Lammergeier)
Gypaetus barbatus 		High mountains in southern Europe, the Caucasus, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Tibet
Gypohierax Palm-nut vulture
Gypohierax angolensis 		Forests and savannahs across sub-Saharan Africa
Neophron Egyptian vulture
Neophron percnopterus 		Southwestern Europe and North Africa to India
†Neophrontops
Native to North America during the Late Pleistocene
†Neogyps
Native to North America during the Late Pleistocene
Aegypiinae Aegypius Cinereous vulture
Aegypius monachus[8] 		Southwestern and central Europe, Turkey, the central Middle East, northern India and central and eastern Asia
†Aegypius jinniushanensis Formerly China
†Aegypius prepyrenaicus Formerly Spain
Gyps Griffon vulture
Gyps fulvus 		Mountains in southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia
White-rumped vulture
Gyps bengalensis 		Northern and central India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia
Rüppell's vulture
Gyps rueppelli 		The Sahel region of Central Africa
Indian vulture
Gyps indicus 		Central and peninsular India
Slender-billed vulture
Gyps tenuirostris 		The Sub-Himalayan regions of India and into Southeast Asia
Himalayan vulture
Gyps himalayensis 		The Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau
White-backed vulture
Gyps africanus 		Savannahs of West and East Africa
Cape vulture
Gyps coprotheres 		Southern Africa
Necrosyrtes Hooded vulture
Necrosyrtes monachus 		Sub-Saharan Africa
Sarcogyps Red-headed vulture
Sarcogyps calvus 		The Indian Subcontinent, with small disjunct populations in Southeast Asia
Torgos Lappet-faced vulture
Torgos tracheliotos 		Sub-Saharan Africa, the Sinai and Negev deserts and northwestern Saudi Arabia
Trigonoceps White-headed vulture
Trigonoceps occipitalis 		Sub-Saharan Africa, formerly native to Indonesia during the Late Pleistocene
†Cryptogyps Native to Australia during the Middle or Late Pleistocene

† = extinct

Population declines, threats, and implications

Population declines

More than half of the Old World vulture species are listed as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered by the IUCN Red List.[9] Population declines are caused by a variety of threats that vary by species and region, with most notable declines in Asia due to diclofenac use.[9] Within Africa, a combination of poisonings and vulture trade (including use as bushmeat and traditional medicine) account for roughly 90% of the population declines.[9] And because vultures are scavengers, their population decline can have cultural, public health, and economic implications for communities and be even more problematic than the decline of other endangered species.[9][10] Vulture populations are particularly vulnerable because they typically feed in large groups and easily fall victim to mass poisoning events.[11]

Threats

Diclofenac

Diclofenac poisoning has caused the vulture population in India and Pakistan to decline by up to 99%, and two or three species of vulture in South Asia are nearing extinction.[12] This has been caused by the practice of medicating working farm animals with diclofenac, which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) with anti-inflammatory and pain-killing actions. Diclofenac administration keeps animals that are ill or in pain working on the land for longer, but, if the ill animals die, their carcasses contain diclofenac. Farmers leave the dead animals out in the open, relying on vultures to tidy up. Diclofenac present in carcass flesh is eaten by vultures, which are sensitive to diclofenac, and they suffer kidney failure, visceral gout, and death as a result of diclofenac poisoning. The drug is poisonous enough that only a small amount of animal carcases need to contain it to have detrimental effects on vulture populations.[13]

Meloxicam (another NSAID) has been found to be harmless to vultures and should prove an acceptable alternative to diclofenac.[12] Bans on diclofenac in veterinary practices have been implemented in Pakistan and Nepal and selling or using the drug in India can result in jail time.[13] But while the Government of India banned diclofenac, over a year later, in 2007, it continued to be sold and remains a problem in other parts of the world.[12]

Poached carcass poisonings

Poisoning accounts for a majority of vulture deaths in Africa. Ivory poachers poison carcasses with the intent of killing vultures, since vultures circling over a carcass alert authorities to a kill.[14][15] An increase in demand for ivory has both increased the rate of elephant poachings as well as increased the rate at which vultures are killed off by consuming the poisoned elephant remains.[16] In Kruger National Park, white-backed vultures will be eradicated in the next 60 years if poisoned carcasses are not detected and neutralized. Eliminating carcass poisoning is challenging because it is far easier to carry out than to regulate. Park officials often lack the training to identify toxic chemicals before it is too late and calling on average community members to turn in perpetrators reports is challenging if financial incentives to do so are insufficient.[10]

Agricultural poisonings

Vultures are also unintentionally poisoned when they consume carcasses of predators that have been poisoned by livestock farmers.[14][15] For those who rely on livestock to make a living, illegal pesticides are often used on fruits, meats, or even the water in a wateringhole in order to eliminate large predators that threaten their livestock. Agricultural poisoning is relatively easy as it does not require specific skills and the poison is cheap with a long shelf life.[10]

Traditional medicine/belief and use

Vultures in Africa are killed for use in traditional medicine as part of the African vulture trade. Vultures can be targeted for the industry directly or collected from other poisoning events, but close to 30% of vulture deaths recorded in Africa can be tied back to belief-based use.[10] In South Africa, vulture consumption events have been estimated to occur 59,000 times a year.[17] Vulture heads are believed to provide clairvoyance or good luck like winning the lottery.[11][14][15] The length of time a vulture can be used by healers is dependent on size and species. Some healers have been recorded using Cape vultures for 6 years because they are said to last longer than other species. Others use 1-2 individuals a year but this rate is unsustainable given the estimated number of healers.[11]

Muthi

In Southern Africa, traditional medicine is called Muthi. For some healers it is believed to cure illnesses, while others believe it cures curses. Vulture muthi involves separate body parts being dried, burned, or ground up. The results may be consumed by mixing with food, drinking, snorting, or applying to cuts. Some healers look for signs of poisoning when purchasing vultures, but others are unaware of how to do this and are at risk of poisoning their clients.[11]

Bushmeat consumption

Another part of the African vulture trade is use for bushmeat consumption.[9]

Electrical infrastructure

Collisions with electrical infrastructure account for roughly 9% of vulture deaths in Africa.[9] Some organizations in South Africa are working with power companies to mitigate this threat.

Implications

As vultures play an important role in ecosystems, their population decline can have cultural, public health, and economic implications for communities.[9]

The decline in vultures has led to hygiene problems in India as carcasses of dead animals now tend to rot, or be eaten by rats or feral dogs, rather than be consumed by vultures.[18] Rabies among these other scavengers is a major health threat. India has one of the world's highest incidences of rabies.[19]

For communities such as the Parsi, who practice sky burials in which human corpses are put on the top of a Tower of Silence, vulture population declines can have serious cultural implications.[18]

Conservation efforts

Conservation efforts would be most effective in large, protected areas because vultures are most populous in those.[16] Small but frequent poisoning events have a more detrimental effect on vulture populations than larger, infrequent events because population recovery is more successful when there is a longer time between poisonings. To increase populations, vultures can be reintroduced to poison-free protected areas near other groups of vultures to keep the populations high. This will make it easier for vultures to maintain some individuals after a poisoning event.[20] A project named "Vulture Restaurant" is underway in Nepal in an effort to conserve the dwindling number of vultures. The "restaurant" is an open grassy area where naturally dying, sick, and old cows are fed to the vultures.[21][22]

Organizations across Africa are working to reduce threats to vulture species with efforts to change and create policies to protect species both at the national and international scale.[23] Proposed strategies to reduce poisoning events include mobile phone numbers to report offenders, campaigns to educate about poisoning risks to humans, and improving response speed to poisoning events.[10] Poison response training would be an important implementation in conservation efforts because this is one of the most prevalent threats to vulture populations.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Aegypiinae". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  2. ^ Lerner & Mindell 2005.
  3. ^ (Griffiths et al. 2007, Lerner and Mindell 2005)
  4. ^ a b Mundy, P. et al. 1992. The Vultures of Africa, Academic Press.
  5. ^ a b Wilber, S. & Jackson, J. 1983. Vulture Biology and Management, University of California
  6. ^ Zhang, Zihui; Feduccia, Alan; James, Helen F. (2012-11-09). Iwaniuk, Andrew (ed.). "A Late Miocene Accipitrid (Aves: Accipitriformes) from Nebraska and Its Implications for the Divergence of Old World Vultures". PLOS ONE. 7 (11): e48842. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...748842Z. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048842. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3494718. PMID 23152811.
  7. ^ (Ward et al. 2008)
  8. ^ "AnimalDiversityWeb: Aegypius: Classification". AnimalDiversity.ummz.umich.edu. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Ogada, Darcy L.; Keesing, Felicia; Virani, Munir Z. (2012-02-01). "Dropping dead: causes and consequences of vulture population declines worldwide". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1249 (#1): 57–71. Bibcode:2012NYASA1249...57O. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06293.x. ISSN 1749-6632. PMID 22175274. S2CID 23734331.
  10. ^ a b c d e Gore, Meredith L.; Hübschle, Annette; Botha, André J.; Coverdale, Brent M.; Garbett, Rebecca; Harrell, Reginal M.; Krüger, Sonja C.; Mullinax, Jennifer M.; Olson, Lars J.; Ottinger, Mary Ann; Smit-Robinson, Hanneline (2020-09-01). "A conservation criminology-based desk assessment of vulture poisoning in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area". Global Ecology and Conservation. 23: e01076. Bibcode:2020GEcoC..2301076G. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01076. ISSN 2351-9894. S2CID 219037409.
  11. ^ a b c d Mashele, N. Mbali; Thompson, Lindy J.; Downs, Colleen T. (September 2021). "Uses of Vultures in Traditional Medicines in the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region, South Africa". Journal of Raptor Research. 55 (3): 328–339. doi:10.3356/JRR-20-36. ISSN 0892-1016. S2CID 237377331.
  12. ^ a b c "Painkillers turned bird killers". New Scientist. No. 2577. 2006-11-14. p. 7.
  13. ^ a b Saini, Mohini; Taggart, Mark A.; Knopp, Dietmar; Upreti, Suchitra; Swarup, Devendra; Das, Asit; Gupta, Praveen K.; Niessner, Reinhard; Prakash, Vibhu; Mateo, Rafael; Cuthbert, Richard J. (2012-01-01). "Detecting diclofenac in livestock carcasses in India with an ELISA: A tool to prevent widespread vulture poisoning". Environmental Pollution. 160 (1): 11–16. Bibcode:2012EPoll.160...11S. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2011.09.011. ISSN 0269-7491. PMID 22035919.
  14. ^ a b c Elizabeth Royte (2015-12-10). "Vultures Are Revolting. Here's Why We Need to Save Them". National Geographic Magazine. Archived from the original on December 13, 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  15. ^ a b c Madeline Bodin (2014-08-11). "Africa's Vultures Threatened By An Assault on All Fronts". Yale Environment 360. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  16. ^ a b c Murn, Campbell; Botha, André (July 2018). "A clear and present danger: impacts of poisoning on a vulture population and the effect of poison response activities". Oryx. 52 (3): 552–558. doi:10.1017/S0030605316001137. ISSN 0030-6053. S2CID 89944743.
  17. ^ McKean, Steven; Mander, Myles; Diederichs, Nicci; Ntuli, Lungile; Mavundla, Khulile; Williams, Vivienne; Wakelin, James (2018-03-29). "The impact of traditional use on vultures in South Africa". Vulture News. 65 (1): 15. doi:10.4314/vulnew.v65i1.2. ISSN 1606-7479.
  18. ^ a b Dooren, Thom van (2010). "Vultures and Their People in India: Equity and Entanglement in a Time of Extinctions". Manoa. 22 (#2): 130–146. doi:10.1353/man.2010.a407433. ISSN 1527-943X. S2CID 201782317.
  19. ^ Di Quinzio & McCarthy 2008.
  20. ^ Tsiakiris, Rigas; Halley, John M.; Stara, Kalliopi; Monokrousos, Nikos; Karyou, Chryso; Kassinis, Nicolaos; Papadopoulos, Minas; Xirouchakis, Stavros M. (2021-10-18). "Models of poisoning effects on vulture populations show that small but frequent episodes have a larger effect than large but rare ones". Web Ecology. 21 (2): 79–93. doi:10.5194/we-21-79-2021. ISSN 1399-1183. S2CID 239045468.
  21. ^ Haviland, Charles (2008-07-31). "Nepal's 'restaurant' for vultures". BBC News. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
  22. ^ A vulture restaurant in South Africa Archived December 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ "Multi-species Action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian Vultures (Vulture MsAP) | CMS". www.cms.int. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
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