Poisoning is the biggest threat to vulture populations in Africa. It has increased rapidly with the ongoing elephant poaching crisis for the illegal ivory trade. Poachers deliberately target vultures, by lacing carcasses with extremely potent poisons, because vultures fly over carcasses and alert law enforcement. This type of poisoning accounts for one third of all vulture poisonings since 1970 and is now the biggest cause of vulture deaths.

The killing of wildlife by poisoning is very difficult to prevent, but a fast response to poisoning events limits their impact. Working alongside other organisations in southern and East Africa, we deliver a training programme on the effective neutralisation of poisoning events and also provide poison response kits to field field staff in high-risk areas in southern and south-eastern Africa. This work is extremely important as it trains and equips field staff to deal with poisoning events when they occur.