Johannesburg - The offer was a live vulture and for proof of life, the poachers sent a video clip of their captive. The price: R20 000. What the poachers didn’t know near Makhado, in Limpopo, was that they were being drawn into a sting operation.
Conservation authorities were able to spring the trap, catching the two men and rescuing the Cape vulture.
But there was a hitch, explained Kerri Wolter of the vulture rescue organisation Vulpro, who was involved in the sting. The men weren’t given jail time, instead they were fined and walked.
Not long afterwards, Wolter said, she received another video, allegedly from the same poachers. Again the video showed a live vulture and the men allegedly threatened Wolter.
“They basically said come and arrest me,” Wolter said. This time they weren’t able to save the vulture.
The price tag on that live Cape Vulture is an indication of the value these raptors have on a black market where their body parts are used in muti.
It is these prices that are believed to have been the motivation behind two apparent poisoning events that happened in Botswana and South Africa last Friday, that killed over 150 birds.
The incident in South Africa occurred near Punda Maria, in the north of the Kruger National Park where rangers found over 100 dead vultures.
“Those were only the ones found. Some of the birds may have flown off and died elsewhere. It’s impossible to know,” said Wolter.
The number of poisons are on the rise and it probably has something to do with the economic climate.
“It is happening in Kruger, Mozambique, Botswana and northern Mozambique. It is like someone has put the switch on,” said Dr Gareth Tate, the programme manager for the Endangered Wildlife Trust's birds of prey programme.
He said that only a few of these poisonings made the headlines. Many went undetected and sometimes, years later, conservation officials came across the remains of kill sites deep in the bush.
Vulture muti is used to treat a number of ailments. There is a belief that it cures headaches and the liver provides good dreams.
The vulture’s eyes are supposed to provide the ability to peer into the future, while the brain brings good fortune.
Last year, a first-of-a-kind study provided a peek into the workings of vulture muti trade.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Raptor Research, used a questionnaire that was answered by 51 traditional healers living in the Bushbuckridge area of Mpumalanga.
Some of these healers admitted to using vultures for muti and on average were buying between one and two of the birds a year.
These birds, the researchers found, were coming from protected areas like the Kruger National Park.
Most healers admitted to not knowing where the birds they bought came from as poachers provided them with the vultures.
However, it was estimated in the study that 16% of the birds the traditional healers were able to source, came from the Kruger National Park.
The trade in total possibly amounts to between 400 and 800 birds a year.
The questionnaire further showed that the raptors were acquired through either poisoning or by trapping.
Prices for the birds fluctuated depending on the economy, and some vulture species are more valuable than others.
A Cape vulture can sell for as much as R1 500. The more common white-backed vulture sells for between R300 and R1 000.
Tate said that they had been trying to work through traditional healer associations to try and curb vulture poaching.
“We are taking it from a human health perspective because several studies have demonstrated through swabbing of body parts that there is poison residue,” said. The poisons used are usually pesticides that are sourced from farming operations.
Another problem in the fight against vulture poaching, said Tate, was that there was a struggle to enforce penalties - and law enforcement often didn’t follow through with their investigations.
But there was some good news.
The vulture that Wolter saved in the sting operation was taken to the Vulpro rehabilitation centre in Hartebeestpoort, in the North West, where it made a full recovery.
The bird was released and is expected to make its way back to its colony in Limpopo.
It is, however, one success story for a species on the brink of dying out.
“Until this country can hold people accountable for their actions, I don’t think there is anything we can do,” said Wolter.