WCC 2016 Res 014 - Activity Report

Conducted 13 Wildlife Poisoning Response Training workshops to 392 learners from Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa during 2019. Funding provided by the US-FWS, Hawk Conservancy Trust and University of Reading (UK). Commenced with the training of trainers in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia to expand the training skills base. Trainers trained in Kenya in 2016 and 2018 conducted another 37 training workshops reaching more than 1200 people from a range of sectors. We have also been invited to conduct the same training at key sites in Uganda, Cambodia and India in 2020.

Following at least four incidents where working dogs were targeted and killed by means of poison baits during pursuit by suspects in Tanzania and Zambia in 2019, we have been in discussions with the Junta Andalucia in Spain and Working Dogs for Conservation in the USA to assist with improved aversion training among working dogs in Africa to reduce the risk of these incidents being repeated. We are also focused on establishing training capacity in Africa to train Poison Sniffer Dogs at known Wildlife Poisoning Hotspots across the continent to assist people in both a preventative and responsive approach.

We have convened a meeting of partners from South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenya to discuss the implementation of the concept of Vulture Safe Zones at various key locations in these countries. A major focus of the work conducted in VSZ's is to combat the impact of wildlife poisoning. At least four new Vulture Safe Zones were established in South Africa in 2019.

Working with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, we produced an awareness video product aimed at a range of audiences, including African governments, highlighting the plight of Africa's vultures and the impact of poisoning on these birds. The product has been used extensively during conferences, training and meetings with government officials. Link to the product is shared below.

We have actively engaged in assessment and advising responsible authorities on appropriate preventative and responsive action in the Kruger National Park (South Africa), Etosha National Park (Namibia), Grumeti Game Reserve (Tanzania) and the KAZA-region (Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia) following a series of poisoning incidents with significant impact in these areas during 2019.

The EWT has three representatives on the National Preventing Poisoning to Wildlife Working Group of the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and participated in the second meeting of this group in Pretoria, South Africa in August 2019. Andre Botha, manager of the Vultures for Africa Programme did a presentation to provide a broad scope of Wildlife Poisoning and its impact on the environment and human health during the meeting. A National Lead Task Team was also established during this meeting to specifically focus on the impact of lead on the environment and wildlife in particular and the EWT is represented on this Team by Andre Botha and Lindy Thompson. We are also working with partners in Namibia, Zambia and Botswana to establish similar Working Groups in those countries.

We are currently working with partners in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia to draft National Wildlife Poisoning Response Protocols for implementation by stakeholders in identified poisoning hotspots.

Working with partners BirdLife International, the IUCN SSC Vulture Specialist Group, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and others, we hosted a side-event at CITES CoP19 in Geneva on the 18th to support a greater focus on illegal trade in vultures and vultures parts in Africa, a significant number of birds killed for their parts are killed by means of poisoning. The motion from West Africa supported by the side-event was adopted by the CITES Plenary on the 20 August 2019 and vultures and the threats that affect them are now an item of focus on the CITES agenda and programme of work.

The African Wildlife Poisoning Database continues to capture and collate data from known wildlife poisoning incidents across the continent. Established in 2012, the database currently contains data of 451 poisoning incidents reflecting 15,087 mortalities of 48 wildlife and 4 domestic animal species. We also launched a mobile phone App on the Survey123 platform of ArcGIS which fieldworkers can use to load data of incidents in the field.

We are supporting the work of the Center for Forensic Science and Research in Pennsylvania, USA who is developing a simplified system for the collection of toxicological samples in the field that will exclude any biological material and therefore the need for permits to ship samples between countries. This will go a long way in simplifying the process of sample analysis in Africa where many countries do not have the capacity to analyse samples. We are also looking into viable options for in-the-field testing which will assist with rapid identification of substance used and appropriate treatment of poisoning victims that are found alive.