Vultures poisoned with purpose

Last week, the Mahlangeni section of the Kruger National Park became the scene of one of the largest and most deliberate vulture poisonings in recent history. The facts are both tragic and revealing: 123 vultures—including White-backed, Cape, and Lappet-faced Vultures—were found dead, scattered around the carcass of an elephant. 

This was not elephant poaching.
This was vulture poaching.

In the early hours of 6 May 2025, the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s (EWT) wildlife poisoning surveillance system flagged suspicious activity in a remote part of the park. The alert was triggered at 06:05, and by 08:20, a joint response team from SANParks and EWT was on the ground. What they found was grim: the elephant carcass had been laced with a potent agricultural toxin, intended not to kill the elephant, but to bait and poison vultures. By the time the team arrived, 116 birds were already dead. Two more, found alive but critically affected, received emergency treatment on-site.

The rapid mobilisation that followed became one of the most extensive wildlife rescue efforts ever undertaken in Kruger. Eighty-four vultures were saved, with a 96% survival rate among those found alive. Birds were stabilised using atropine, activated charcoal, and fluids. From there, they were transported by air and road to rehabilitation facilities, including the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre near Hoedspruit.

This response was made possible by the "Eye in the Sky" programme—a joint initiative between EWT and Contemplate Wild. Using GPS telemetry and satellite-linked devices, vultures are now monitored across vast areas of southern Africa. These birds act as sentinels: when multiple tagged vultures cluster at a carcass or stop moving, the system raises a red flag in real time.

This is conservation intelligence in action—and it’s changing the rules.

Historically, poachers poisoned vultures to prevent them from revealing the location of other poached animals such as rhinos or elephants. Their circling has long been a signal for rangers. But now, in trying to silence these birds, poachers are triggering alerts faster than ever before.

Why Kill Vultures? 

There are two clear motives at play here

  1. To conceal poaching activity

    Vultures often discover carcasses before humans do. Their presence gives away the site of illegal kills. Poachers target them to avoid detection, but surveillance systems like Eye in the Sky are making this increasingly ineffective.

  2. For the muthi trade

    Vulture body parts—particularly the brain—are in demand for use in traditional medicine (muthi). Believed to bring clairvoyance, enhanced intelligence, or luck, these parts are sold. Despite their protected status, vultures continue to be traded in urban muthi markets across South Africa and beyond.

This was not just another wildlife incident. It was a calculated, targeted attack on a keystone species already pushed to the brink.

This time, the system worked. The Eye in the Sky saw what poachers tried to hide, and dedicated teams worked around the clock to save every bird they could.

Partnerships between SANParks, EWT, and wildlife rehab centres proved that when we act together, hope is still possible.

A wildlife economy dilemma

This incident also reveals a difficult truth for the wildlife economy: sometimes, aligning conservation with livelihoods may not be possible.

There is an effective demand for vulture parts, which are used in traditional muthi markets for spiritual and cognitive benefits. But this demand cannot be met sustainably from wild populations. All three species affected in this poisoning—White-backed, Cape, and Lappet-faced Vultures—are either Endangered or Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

So what options exist? Can captive breeding or tightly regulated trade supply this demand without further harming wild populations? Or is this a case where the only viable path is demand reduction?

This is the core dilemma: a functioning wildlife economy requires that use be sustainable. When that’s not possible, we must explore different tools—tools that protect rather than supply, that reduce demand rather than stimulate it. Vultures may be a line that the wildlife economy cannot cross.