Illegal Trade Of Vulture Parts In South Africa: An Environmental Crime

Green Criminology and Crimes against Environment

Discuss about the Green Criminology and Environmental Crime for Conservation Letters.

Green criminology is a branch or type of criminology in which crime against environment are reported. This crime can be performed by nearby community as well as by the corporate group that harm the environmental immunity badly. This term was discovered in 1990s and nowadays are used to register crimes that affect environment badly (Ruggiero and South 2013). The following case study is on the ongoing illegal trade of vulture parts in South Africa that is used as traditional medicines and African voudon rituals or ceremonies. These parts are displayed and sold openly in the markets. The vultures are usually caught using poison baits which in turn enter the human food chain when consumed (Ogada et al. 2016).

According to the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute includes an elaborate list of activities which are illicit and considered environmental crimes, such as wildlife trading, illicit trade of hazardous substances, fishing illegally, without permit or reporting, smuggling ozone depleting substances, illegal timber trade and logging. These crimes are considered to have the potential to be a serious and growing concern for global stability, development and international security (White 2017). Environmental crimes not only affects the quality of air, water or soil and endangers the survival of other species, and also lead to environmental disasters, and extinction of species, but also poses a threat to the safety of a large number of people and challenges the development of new rules and regulations. The case study here is on illegal trade of wildlife (Johnson 2015).

According to EUROPOL, as of 2011, the estimated annual value for the illegal market for wildlife between 7.8 to 10 billion USD. This is the third biggest market among all the other illegal businesses in the world, following illegal drug trafficking and illegal arms trafficking. Trafficking of wild animals, especially endangered species can jeopardize the survival of the species and thus threaten the biodiversity (Van Uhm 2016). Illegal trading of animals is a global phenomenon, and the animal parts of rare, endangered and even critically endangered species are sold in these illegal markets. These parts are bought for various purposes, such as ornamentation, traditional medicines, ceremonies or rituals. In Africa, a wide network of illegal trade for vulture exists (Duffy et al. 2016; Cooney et al. 2016).

The trade involves poaching, trafficking and sale of vultures or their parts, which are used as bush meat, traditional medicine or for traditional customs or rituals. Even apart from the wildlife trade, the vultures are also killed by poachers in Africa, as the sight of vultures can alert the authorities of a carcass. The vultures are mainly killed by poisoning their food which is done using agrochemicals in their food or trapping and is the cause of 90% of the deaths of vultures. In East Africa, particularly in Kenya and Tanzania, vultures are traded mainly for bush meat causing the capture and death of thousands of vulture every year. In West Africa, the vulture population has declined significantly in Somalia, where vultures are both consumed as bush meat and also used for traditional medicines and rituals. In Central Africa the demand for vulture as bush meat is on the rise, and has resulted in significant decline in the vulture population in this region. In South Africa vultures are sold as forms of traditional medicines or to be used in rituals or ceremonies (Ogada et al. 2016). 

United Nations’ Elaborate List of Environmental Crimes

The traditional use of vulture parts as medications or to be used in traditional rituals or ceremonies is based upon the keen senses of the vulture. According to traditional beliefs, using vulture parts as medications or in rituals, one can attain special abilities such clairvoyance, improve luck, increase intelligence, and give foresight. These are mostly used by business people for success and prescribed by traditional healers for different ailments, such as headaches. Many of such practices are widespread in South Africa, and thus support the rapid growth in the demand for Vulture parts. These vultures are mostly hunted by poisoning, and sometimes using shotguns or traps (Williams and Whiting 2016).

In South Africa, an estimated 160 vultures are sold every year in the illegal trade markets and 59,000 events of consumption of vulture meat occur. To net value of the sales of vulture parts as bush meat and traditional use in South Africa is estimated to be about 120,000 USD every year, and an estimated 1250 vulture traders, hunters and traditional healers are involved in the trade. The main location for these illegal markets in South Africa includes Mozambique, Mona, Durban and Faraday (Wolter et al. 2016). The implications of the illegal trade and decline in vulture population have been discussed next.

Due to the illegal trade of vultures, their population in South Africa has reduced drastically, and can potentially wipe out several species of vultures in the next 10 to 25 years (McKean et al. 2013). Some of the vulture species have been declared as extinct from the local regions. The number of breeding pair of vultures at the KwaZulu-Natal was estimated to be 300 African White backed Vultures, 5-10 Lappet faced Vulture and just 1-3 white headed vultures. The total number breeding pairs across South Africa for African White Backed Vulture was 3675, Lappet-Faced Vultures 169 and White Headed Vultures 80. At such low numbers, it is estimated that both lappet faced vultures and white headed vulture are at an imminent risk of extinction, and that might happen by 2020.

The implication of the loss of vulture population can be drastic for the ecosystem. Vultures are one of the most effective scavengers, and can clean a carcass to its bones, and prevent the transmission of diseases. Their stomach secretions are powerful enough to neutralize pathogens for deadly diseases such as botulism, Ebola, rabies or anthrax, and thus preventing their spread from the contaminated carcass (Buechley and Sekercioglu 2016a). Other scavengers (such as dogs or hyenas) are not capable of neutralizing these pathogens. With the decrees in the number of vulture, these ‘facultative’ scavengers’ takes up the niche, however lacking the ability to neutralize these lethal pathogens, they help to spread them. Increase in the population of feral dogs moreover can increase the rate of rabies and also increase the rate of confrontation of humans with wild animals in settlements adjoining forests. Also, loss of such an efficient scavenger, can also can significantly affect the biodiversity of the place (Sekercioglu et al. 2016). Thus under such circumstances, their destruction can be considered as an environmental crime.

Illegal Wildlife Trade as the Third Biggest Market among Illegal Businesses

It is implied therefore that active steps be taken to prevent the loss of such an important species from the planet. From the case study and its implications, the following applications for future actions can be summarized as advocating the support the development of stricter national laws prohibiting and reinforcing anti-poaching laws, using surveillance systems for illegal markets for wildlife, especially vulture parts, raising vulture populations in captive breeding centers. Further educating people about the importance of vulture to the ecosystem and the adverse effects of their population loss, making wildlife conservation studies a part of the school curriculum, investments by stakeholders and foreign governments to aid the protection and rehabilitation of vultures are also associated with it (Buechley and ?ekercio?lu 2016).

Using these steps it might be possible to reduce the drastic reduction in vulture population. The main aim is to prevent further loss in their numbers, in the proportion that have occurred in India and Pakistan, causing a significant rise in the number of rabies related hospitalizations and deaths in the last 2 decades.

It can be concluded that the systematic elimination of the vultures for illegal trade has resulted in drastic loss of several vulture species, and have threatened them towards extinction. This can have significant adverse effects on the ecosystem as well as on humans and is an environmental crime. Without vultures diseases will spread more easily through the infected carcasses thereby jeopardizing the health and well being of people. It is vital therefore that their population decline be due to the illegal trade be put to an end.

References:

Buechley, E.R. and ?ekercio?lu, Ç.H., 2016a. The avian scavenger crisis: looming extinctions, trophic cascades, and loss of critical ecosystem functions. Biological Conservation, 198, pp.220-228.

Buechley, E.R. and Sekercioglu, C.H., 2016b. Vultures. Current Biology, 26(13), pp.R560-R561.

Cooney, R., Roe, D., Dublin, H., Phelps, J., Wilkie, D., Keane, A., Travers, H., Skinner, D., Challender, D.W., Allan, J.R. and Biggs, D., 2017. From poachers to protectors: engaging local communities in solutions to illegal wildlife trade. Conservation Letters, 10(3), pp.367-374.

Duffy, R., St John, F.A., Büscher, B. and Brockington, D., 2016. Toward a new understanding of the links between poverty and illegal wildlife hunting. Conservation Biology, 30(1), pp.14-22.

Johnson, H., South, N. and Walters, R., 2015. Environmental crime

McKean, S., Mander, M., Diederichs, N., Ntuli, L., Mavundla, K., Williams, V. and Wakelin, J., 2013. The impact of traditional use on vultures in South Africa. Vulture News, 65(1), pp.15-36.

Ogada, D., Shaw, P., Beyers, R.L., Buij, R., Murn, C., Thiollay, J.M., Beale, C.M., Holdo, R.M., Pomeroy, D., Baker, N. and Krüger, S.C., 2016. Another continental vulture crisis: Africa’s vultures collapsing toward extinction. Conservation Letters, 9(2), pp.89-97.

Ruggiero, V. and South, N., 2013. Green criminology and crimes of the economy: Theory, research and praxis. Critical Criminology, 21(3), pp.359-373.

Sekercioglu, Ç.H., Wenny, D.G. and Whelan, C.J. eds., 2016. Why birds matter: Avian ecological function and ecosystem services. University of Chicago Press.

Van Uhm, D.P., 2016. The illegal wildlife trade: Inside the world of poachers, smugglers and traders (Vol. 15). Springer.

White, R., 2017. Transnational environmental crime. Routledge.

Williams, V.L. and Whiting, M.J., 2016. A picture of health? Animal use and the Faraday traditional medicine market, South Africa. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 179, pp.265-273.

Wolter, K., Neser, W., Hirschauer, M.T. and Camiña, A., 2016. Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres breeding status in southern Africa: monitoring results from 2010–2014. Ostrich, 87(2), pp.119-123.