[ti:Vulture Watch System Informs Zambian Park of Poisonings]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]Lion and leopard populations in Zambia's Kafue National Park
[00:07.16]are showing signs of a comeback, following many years of poaching.
[00:13.32]A new early-warning system involving birds has been a part of the success.
[00:20.56]A new report shared with the Reuters news agency
[00:25.12]found that big cat numbers across Kafue remained similar --
[00:30.64]and in some cases increased -- from 2018 to 2022.
[00:38.32]The populations were measured widely for the first time by Panthera.
[00:44.64]The organization works to save wild cats.
[00:49.60]A lack of historical population data
[00:53.12]makes it difficult to examine population changes
[00:57.80]over a longer period of time.
[01:01.44]But since 2018, scientists have seen signs
[01:06.32]that the big cat populations are increasing, said Kim Young-Overton.
[01:13.40]She is director of Panthera's Kavango-Zambezi
[01:17.80]Transfrontier Conservation Area program, which includes Kafue.
[01:24.72]A half-century of poaching has greatly hurt wildlife populations
[01:30.00]in Africa's third-largest national park.
[01:34.84]Kafue's big cats are among the victims.
[01:38.92]Leopards have long been hunted for their skin,
[01:42.68]which people use to make ceremonial clothing.
[01:47.12]Poachers have also targeted the grass-eating animals that lions eat,
[01:52.40]leaving too little food behind for the hungry cats.
[01:57.32]Area farmers have targeted the lions
[02:00.00]with weapons like guns, arrows, and even poison.
[02:05.00]Conservation groups have worked alongside Africa Parks
[02:09.08]and Zambia's Department of National Parks and Wildlife
[02:14.04]to help protect Kafue's wildlife.
[02:18.04]The groups and organizations use many different tools in their efforts.
[02:24.80]One of the newer methods is tagging, or marking,
[02:28.60]vultures with satellite trackers.
[02:32.64]The birds are drawn to dead animal carcasses, or bodies.
[02:37.44]And so are big cats.
[02:40.52]The quick arrival of the vultures lets wildlife managers
[02:45.36]know about possibly poisoned carcasses –
[02:49.08]before the lions and leopards can get to them.
[02:53.44]In many parts of Africa, livestock owners will poison cow carcasses
[02:59.52]with a deadly agricultural chemical meant to kill the cats that eat them.
[03:06.36]The farmers see the poisoning as a form of punishment
[03:09.88]for lions that kill and eat their animals.
[03:13.92]Scientists have tagged two kinds of vultures,
[03:17.32]including the endangered white-backed vulture.
[03:22.12]Their population has dropped by more than 90 percent
[03:25.88]across West Africa in the past 40 years, largely due to poisoning.
[03:32.80]Corinne Kendall leads conservation and research efforts
[03:36.96]at North Carolina Zoo in the United States.
[03:41.88]The zoo leads the vulture-tagging program in Zambia.
[03:46.96]She said, "African white-backed vultures will come in really large numbers."
[03:53.64]A hundred or more of the birds may try to eat a poisoned carcass.
[03:58.56]All of them will die, Kendall added.
[04:02.72]Since 2021, the zoo team has tagged 19 vultures in Zambia.
[04:10.04]The birds wear very small bags containing the satellite tags over their wings.
[04:16.80]So far, the tagged vultures have led the wildlife teams
[04:21.32]to two suspected poisoning events near Kafue.
[04:25.92]In such cases, park workers were able to remove the carcass
[04:30.72]and try to find the people responsible for the poisoning.
[04:35.08]This helps save both the birds and the big cats.
[04:39.60]"Poisoning is a silent killer," Kendall added.
[04:44.44]"Unless you have something like satellite-tagged vultures,
[04:48.04]a lot might be going on without anyone knowing about it."
[04:52.92]I'm Gregory Stachel. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM