[ad_1]
In a statement sent to Lusa, the group affirms that this event was the “most lethal intentional poisoning of vultures in the world.” According to the group, which denounced the situation, in a letter published on Friday in the journal Science, more than 2,000 vultures of the Necrosyrtes monachus species (hooded vulture), a species in danger of extinction on the Red List of Species, were killed. Threats from the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
“It is said that the vultures were poisoned for the purpose of removing their heads to feed the illegal trade for the use of various parts of their bodies (heads, wings, nails and legs) in witchcraft practices in several countries of West Africa.” yes in the statement.
Mohamed Henriques, a Portuguese-Guinean doctoral student at the Center for Environmental and Marine Studies of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon and first author of the article, said that “hundreds of corpses of these vultures were beheaded, piled up and intentionally hidden under the bushes. “.
The suspicion of poisoning was confirmed by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Lisbon. “Toxicological analyzes have unequivocally shown that the cause of death was poisoning by methocarb, an insecticide sold under the trade name Mesurol, which, among other uses, is often applied as a snail and snail control and has recently been banned in Europe due to its toxicity to wildlife ”, indicates José Pedro Tavares, director of the Vulture Conservation Foundation, and one of the co-authors of the article.
The authors of the letter to the magazine Sciente warned that the venom is responsible for the death of 30% of vultures on the African continent and that only in West Africa, between 60 and 70% of the populations of various species have disappeared in the last 30 years.
“Guinea-Bissau is home to more than a fifth of the world’s population of this species, and is currently one of the most important countries for the conservation of the species worldwide,” says another study author, Paulo Catry, researcher and Adjunct Professor at the ISPA Center for Marine and Environmental Sciences. The death of these vultures in Guinea-Bissau represents the disappearance of more than 1% of the world population of this species.
According to Mohamed Henriques, vultures play a fundamental role for human beings and ecosystems, as they eliminate a large part of the organic waste from the cities and towns of the country, preventing the proliferation of diseases.
The authors of the letter also appeal to the need for awareness campaigns to protect the species.
