Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZNW) is deeply concerned by recent research that has highlighted the
human health risk posed by use of vulture body parts which are extensively incorporated in various
aspects of traditional medicine.
Poachers use strong poisons to kill the birds and then sell them on to the large urban
"muthi" markets around the country.
Consumers unknowingly buy these poisoned birds or parts of them thereby exposing themselves
to severe risk of fatal poisoning or severe illness should they eat the vulture part or ingest it
as part of a "muthi" mix.
There is no obvious way for a member of the public to discern a poisoned vulture from a bird
which has not been poisoned.
A vulture poisoning incident in January this year saw 51 birds killed using a powerful
poison that does not break down and is carried in the body parts and flesh of the dead vultures.
"We are in a very difficult position in this regard," said Mr Khulani Mkhize, EKZNW
Chief Executive Officer.
"We are extremely concerned about the human health aspect of this problem, and at the same
time we are faced with the local extinction of vultures due to poisoning," he said.
"A great concern to us is that vultures, which are so much an integral part of Zulu culture,
could well be wiped out within fifty years in this province by the unscrupulous activities of a
small handful of poachers who have no consideration for the ecological and cultural value of this
bird," he added.
"There is a widely held belief in many African cultures that health, disease, success or
misfortune are not chance events but the result of the active influence of individuals or ancestral
spirits," said Mr Mkhize.
"For this reason, traditional medicine is held in high esteem in such cultures and is
regularly used by a large proportion of the population," he added.
Traditional medicines use herbal, animal and mineral material for physiological as well as
symbolic or psychological purposes.
Approximately 26 million South Africans use traditional medicine in one form or another as
primary health care because pharmaceutical drugs are too expensive or because traditional methods
are considered more appropriate.
Stimulated by rapid urbanization, the HIV pandemic and high levels of unemployment, the
demand for traditional medicines is probably higher now than at any time in the past.
This demand has given rise to a rapidly expanding commercial trade in plants and animal
parts for traditional medicine.
Despite the persistence of customary controls on use of many species, the commercial trade
has eroded many of these controls to the detriment of the species involved and the systems in which
they occur.
Vultures are among the animals most threatened by the trade in traditional medicine.
Apart from the serious human health risk posed by the use of poisoned vultures, there is
strong evidence to suggest that traditional use is partly responsible for the rapid decline of
vulture populations in the sub-continent.
Should current use levels continue, some vulture species are predicted to be extinct in
South Africa by 2020.
Vulture populations in Asia, for example, are on the brink of extinction due to
indiscriminate use of poisons and veterinary drugs that are toxic to the birds, for treating
livestock.that are toxic to the birds.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife strongly advises members of the public not to purchase vulture parts
for traditional use as these pose a significant human health hazard.
Purchasing vulture parts for "muthi" is also supporting an unsustainable and largely illegal
trade which is contributing to the extinction of these beautiful, as well as ecologically and
culturally significant birds.
