PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Drought and downing equal vulture supermarkets

2014-01-09
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Stephen Sautner
ssautner@wcs.org
718-220-3682
Wildlife Conservation Society
Drought and downing equal vulture supermarkets

NEW YORK (EMBARGO: Wednesday, January 8, 2014 5 PM EST, USA) African vultures are famous for quickly finding carcasses; so much so that they are considered clairvoyants in parts of Africa. But just how do vultures know where to find food across vast regions in the first place? In a paper appearing in the January 8th edition of the journal PLoS ONE, Dr. Corinne Kendall of Columbia University and African Vulture Technical Advisor with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and colleagues have discovered that vultures, rather than aggregating where animals are most abundant as previously thought, instead focus on areas and conditions where animals are most likely to die.

For decades, scientists have assumed that vultures would follow the largest food source available. In the case of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, this would be the migratory wildebeest herds, which in recent years have numbered in the millions. Instead, this study found that two of the three species of vultures studied preferentially selected areas of low rainfall and thus presumably high prey mortality.

Data were collected from GSM-GPS telemetry devices attached to three species of vultures in Mara-Serengeti ecosystem of East Africa. The devices send text messages back to the researcher detailing individual bird's location and altitude. The data revealed that vultures focused on the immense wildebeest herds only during the dry season when hundreds of wildebeest die each day from starvation or drowning during their dangerous river crossings.

"Our study shows that vultures seek out areas not where wildlife are most abundant, but where they are most likely to die," said lead author Corinne Kendall. "This shows that for vultures, prey mortality is more important than prey abundance."

The researchers found that for the rest of the year, vultures travel enormous distances in search of food.

Kendall said: "What has really surprised us is what the vultures do the rest of the year. From November to June, the vultures travel all over Kenya and Northern Tanzania, with some individuals using an area of more than 200,000 square kilometers (77,000 square miles) -- that's a region larger than New Jersey and New York State combined or roughly the size of the entire United Kingdom."

As one of the only obligate scavengers in the animal kingdom, vultures are specially adapted to feed on dead animals, or carcasses.

Keith Bildstein, Director of Conservation Science at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, and a study co-author said: "We knew that vultures use efficient soaring flight, keen eyesight, and even used information from each other to find food, but we had a poor sense of how they decide where to search on a landscape scale."

In recent years, these large movements have spelled disaster for the birds. White-backed vultures and Ruppell's vultures, two of the species studied, have been up-listed to "Endangered" status by the IUCN due to dramatic declines seen throughout the African continent.

Munir Virani, Director of Africa programs for the Peregrine Fund and co-author of the study, said: "Because the vultures spend so much time outside of protected areas, they are extremely susceptible to poisoning, which often occurs when ranchers put pesticides on the carcasses of cows and other animals killed by lions or hyenas. You can imagine how difficult it is to protect a species that uses not just multiple parks, but also spends a lot of time in areas that are completely unprotected."

But protecting these critical scavengers, which help to keep the African savannas clean and reduce the risk of rabies and other diseases, is now the focus of a new effort by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Peregrine Fund, and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.

Dr. Steve Zack, Coordinator of Bird Conservation at WCS, who is working with Dr. Kendall and others in shaping a conservation effort to revive vulture populations while eliminating the poisoning, said: "This information is critical to understanding the scale of effort needed to protect vulture species in East Africa. The new knowledge makes clear that engaging local communities well beyond park boundaries is needed to confront and eliminate the poisoning."



INFORMATION:

This work was done in collaboration with Dr. Virani of The Peregrine Fund, Dr. Hopcraft of Frankfurt Zoological Society, Dr. Bildstein of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, and Dr. Rubenstein of Princeton University.

The complete article can be found at: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083470

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. VISION: WCS envisions a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in more than 60 nations and in all the world's oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit: http://www.wcs.org; http://www.facebook.com/TheWCS; http://www.youtube.com/user/WCSMedia Follow: @thewcs.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

UCLA life scientists, colleagues differentiate microbial good and evil

2014-01-09
UCLA life scientists, colleagues differentiate microbial good and evil To safely use bacteria in agriculture to help fertilize crops, it is vital to understand the difference between harmful and healthy strains. The bacterial genus Burkholderia, ...

Elephant shark genome provides new insights into bone formation and adaptive immunity in humans

2014-01-09
Elephant shark genome provides new insights into bone formation and adaptive immunity in humans A*STAR-led international consortium completely decodes the first shark-family member genome 1. Singapore, Jan, 09, 2014 ...

Researchers discover how vascular disease activates autoimmune disorders

2014-01-09
Researchers discover how vascular disease activates autoimmune disorders The hardening of the arteries, also called atherosclerosis, that can lead to heart attack or stroke. has also been linked to autoimmune disorders. It has not been clear why these diseases are related, ...

JCI early table of contents for Jan. 9, 2014

2014-01-09
JCI early table of contents for Jan. 9, 2014 Engineered anti-toxin antibodies improve efficacy The effectiveness of toxin-neutralizing antibodies is considered to be mediated through the interaction of the variable region of the antibody and the toxin; ...

Engineered anti-toxin antibodies improve efficacy

2014-01-09
Engineered anti-toxin antibodies improve efficacy The effectiveness of toxin-neutralizing antibodies is considered to be mediated through the interaction of the variable region of the antibody and the toxin; however, recent studies suggest that the constant ...

Mice exposed to retinoid deficiency in utero exhibit bronchial hyperresponsiveness as adults

2014-01-09
Mice exposed to retinoid deficiency in utero exhibit bronchial hyperresponsiveness as adults Individuals with asthma and COPD are subject to debilitating bronchospasm as a result of airways that are hyperresponsive to stimuli. Factors that lead to the ...

Joslin researchers determine hormone linked to improved glucose metabolism activates browning of fat

2014-01-09
Joslin researchers determine hormone linked to improved glucose metabolism activates browning of fat BOSTON – (January 9, 2013) – Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered that a hormone long associated with weight loss and improved glucose metabolism ...

NIH-funded scientists develop mouse model for atopic dermatitis

2014-01-09
NIH-funded scientists develop mouse model for atopic dermatitis Study identifies potential targets for eczema treatment A study reports the development of a new mouse model for atopic dermatitis, an inflammatory skin disorder ...

Rewiring stem cells

2014-01-09
Rewiring stem cells A fast and comprehensive method for determining the function of genes could greatly improve our understanding of a wide range of diseases and conditions, such as heart disease, liver disease and cancer. The method uses stem cells ...

Why is type 2 diabetes an increasing problem?

2014-01-09
Why is type 2 diabetes an increasing problem? Popular theory to explain increasing frequency of type 2 diabetes refuted by evidence Contrary to a common belief, researchers have shown that genetic regions associated with increased risk of type 2 ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

Targeting FGFR2 may prevent or delay some KRAS-mutated pancreatic cancers

[Press-News.org] Drought and downing equal vulture supermarkets