Vultures rescued from mass poisoning in South African game reserve

A Cape vulture, right, and a pied crow, left, at Mogale's Gate Reserve near Krugersdorp, South Africa on June 22, 2011. (Denis Farrell / AP)

JOHANNESBURG — South African park rangers and a local wildlife organization rescued more than 80 vultures from a mass poisoning in the country’s Kruger National Park this week, though they were unable to save over 120 vultures.

South African National Parks (SANParks) and the Endangered Wildlife Trust said it was one of the largest vulture poisoning events in Southern Africa.

Officials from the organizations suspect poachers are to blame as they are increasingly using agricultural toxins to target species whose body parts are in demand for traditional medicine.

Some of the vultures rescued are classified as endangered or critically endangered, including the white-backed vulture.

The rescue was made possible by a wildlife-poisoning detection system in a remote section of the Kruger park.

After being alerted to suspicious activity, the rangers who arrived on site discovered 116 dead vultures near an elephant carcass laced with poison.

The death toll later rose to 123 vultures as more birds died on the way to a rehabilitation center.

SANParks spokesperson Ike Phaahla told Reuters it was not clear which species the poachers were targeting but said the incident was concerning because the vultures that were killed only breed once a year.

(Reporting by Catherine Schenck and Sfundo Parakozov;Writing by Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Alexander Winning and Ewan Harwood)