A mass death event affecting Hooded Vultures, Necrosyrtes monachus, has occurred in the town of Gunjur, in Kombo South District, The Gambia, according to the West African Bird Study Association. The association was contacted by local residents at 11.00 am local time on Thursday 3 July 2025, by local residents concerned by the sight of a large number of dead and dying Birds. When a team of researchers led by Fagimba Camara arrived at the site, they found 23 dead Vultures and a 24th in a sick and distressed condition.
Hooded Vultures are classed as Critically Endangered under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. There are thought to be around 131 000 adult Hooded Vultures alive, spread across 45 African countries. However, the species is estimated to have suffered a 68% population decline in three generations, and sudden population collapses have been recorded in several countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Botswana, and illegal killings of Birds have been recorded in several countries, including Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, and The Gambia.
The researchers from the West African Bird Study Association have collected samples from the Gunjur Vultures for analysis, but it is thought most likely that the Birds have died as a result of poisoning. This is the most common cause of mass deaths among Vultures, not because they are targeted themselves, but because they will eat both bait put out for large predators which target livestock (itself an illegal activity in almost all countries), as well as the bodies of other Animals which have been poisoned, intentionally or otherwise.
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