By Brian Otiego
Every year, the first Saturday of September marks International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD), a global event celebrating vultures and highlighting their vital role as nature’s clean-up crew. This year, Nature Kenya observed IVAD, focusing on engaging school children in vulture conservation, specifically in the Maasai Mara, Amboseli and Kwenia landscapes.
Vultures play a crucial role in maintaining healthy ecosystems by scavenging on carcasses, thereby preventing the spread of diseases. Despite their importance, vulture populations across Kenya face significant threats, particularly from wildlife poisoning. Vultures are often unintended victims when they consume poisoned carcasses intended to target predators like hyenas and lions, resulting in their mass deaths. Disturbingly, children have been implicated in some cases of wildlife poisoning, as they may resort to using common household chemicals like dry cell battery components to poison carcasses after livestock losses.
Ongoing education programs have been critical in raising awareness about the dangers of poisoning wildlife, particularly vultures. This year, Nature Kenya took the lead in ensuring that children in key landscapes like Amboseli, Kwenia, and Mosiro in Kajiado County and Maasai Mara in Narok County participated in the anti-wildlife poisoning campaign. To mark IVAD, Nature Kenya held school outreach activities at Oldorko Primary School, Sterling Academy and Olorika Comprehensive School, where children drew and coloured vulture-themed artwork. They also watched an educative vulture video and participated in interactive discussions. The goal was to help them understand the ecological significance of vultures and how their conservation is critical to maintaining balanced ecosystems. Through these engaging activities, over 1,000 children learned more about vultures and how they prevent the spread of diseases by efficiently clearing dead animals from the landscape.
These outreach events fostered knowledge and sparked a sense of responsibility and appreciation for vultures among the younger generation. By introducing children to the world of conservation in such an engaging and imaginative way, Nature Kenya aims to mentor a future generation of conservationists who understand the value of vultures in our ecosystems and are inspired to protect them.
In Nairobi, a significant step forward for vulture conservation was made to commemorate IVAD. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), in partnership with Nature Kenya and other conservation organisations, launched the “Vulture Multi-species Action Plan for Kenya (2024-2034)” a day before the IVAD celebrations. The action plan aims to address the alarming decline of Kenya’s vulture populations – down by over 70% in recent decades – due to poisoning, collision with energy infrastructure, electrocution and habitat loss.
The multi-species action plan outlines targeted measures to protect and restore populations of critically endangered species like the White-backed Vulture, Rüppell’s Vulture, White-headed Vulture, and Hooded Vulture. The plan seeks to mitigate threats by working with communities, conservation groups, and stakeholders to promote sustainable practices that protect vultures and their habitats.