Massive public drive to end vulture killings

Another 400-600 vultures have been killed in the Caprivi Strip (Zambezi region), which effectively means they were “Botswana's birds”. Kabelo J Senyatso, the Director of BirdLife Botswana, said this week he had received the report from the attending Namibian veterinarian who was at the scene. The Namibian report also includes comments on previous scenes in the Caprivi this year. Two weeks ago, The Ngami Times reported exclusively on the poisoning of hundreds of vultures in the same area and also close to Seronga. It is feared that many young birds will also have died through starvation. “The (latest) incident was very poorly managed and information hard to come by, as happened with such events in Botswana. Unfortunately, the incineration of all carcasses occurred prior to them being properly counted, identified to species or being checked for rings and tags,” Senyatso said. “Because BirdLife Botswana has continually brought this issue to the attention of Department of Wildlife and National (DWNP), and seen very little urgency given to this matter, we are launching a public campaign through which we hope to increase awareness on this issue, as well as articulate to Batswana why they should be concerned about the issue. Read more about this in The Ngami Times http://www.ngamitimes.com/