Injured Moroccan Vulture named after Sacha Dench - UN Ambassador for the Convention on Migratory Species

Sacha Dench, Founder of Conservation Without Borders and UN CMS Ambassador is leading The Flight of the Osprey expedition team following the migration route of ospreys and other birds from Scotland to West Africa.

A Moroccan team dedicated to saving raptors injured at a migration ‘blackspot’ have just named the latest raptor rescued at their centre after Sacha Dench, stating that it will serve as an ambassador for other endangered birds.

After following the osprey route along the East Atlantic Flyway through Europe, Sacha and the expedition team recently crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into Morocco along with thousands of currently migrating birds - from ospreys to eagles, vultures and even barn swallows.

The osprey team’s first call in Africa was from the Jbel Moussa Raptor Rehabilitation Centre in Morocco. Rachid El Khamlichi called to alert Sacha of their latest arrival - a vulture which had miraculously survived electrocution on a power pylon - and managed to fly to the centre for help (they regularly put carcasses out for wild vultures).

As the bird landed, the team noticed something was seriously wrong with its leg. A veterinary investigation identified that somehow the bird had received a severe electric shock, but the current had miraculously travelled in and out again through its leg rather than through the whole body, which would have caused instant death.

One of the major causes of death of ospreys and other migratory birds is electrocution when they perch on uninsulated powerline pylons.

Rachid said

“The leg was dead and sadly had to be amputated, but it is a true miracle that this bird not only survived electrocution but then managed to still fly itself to the rescue centre.

As this three year old bird would struggle in the wild with only one leg and perhaps to maintain a place in the pecking order on a carcass, the bird will stay and thrive here at the centre and will be an important ambassador for the issue of electrocution and the need to insulate pylons in migration hotspots.”

As the bird had not yet been named, Rachid suggested that as Sacha is an Ambassador for migrating birds “Sacha” might be a fitting name for this brave vulture.

  Sacha Dench with Sacha the Vulture          Vulture Sacha after leg amputation             Vulture Sacha’s leg

                                                        Sacha the Vulture just after arriving at the rescue centre

Sacha Dench said

“Electrocution from landing on pylons happens often. For example, of eleven ospreys GPS tagged at the Urdaibai Bird Centre in Spain, three died from electrocution on their first attempt at migration. But this is the only case I know of a bird surviving electrocution.

I really felt for this vulture and am so happy that I could offer it a name. This particular vulture displayed an amazing desire to survive and actually flew into the centre on its own with one dead leg - and after suffering an incredible shock.

Vultures don’t get great PR, but they are all magnificent. And they play a critical role along the flyway, protecting ecosystems by disposing of dead carcasses – sparing other migrating birds from disease, as well as other wildlife and even human populations. The loss of vulture populations leaves many more dead carcasses left rotting and an increase in feral dogs and rats - which then spread diseases like rabies - leading to thousands of human deaths.

With their highly acidic stomachs vultures do a job no other animal can do. Losing them is like losing our waste disposal or sewage treatment in a city – the repercussions would be catastrophic.

I hope that by highlighting some of the threats – which are the same for lots of other birds - I can bring some new impetus to reversing the decline of this magnificent and important - but critically endangered species.”

Vultures are invaluable as scavengers. Vulture stomach acid is exceptionally corrosive, allowing them to safely digest putrid carcasses infected with bacteria (including anthrax) that would be lethal to other scavengers - thus removing these bacteria from the environment.

Flying with Vultures

Sacha has flown in a paraglider with wild vultures on many occasions, even hunting for thermals with them!

She says

“When you are getting low, vultures often mark a thermal - that you can aim for. But similarly, if they see you going up in a thermal faster than the thermal they are in, they will come and join you, circling, almost touching wingtips. They are such big birds it is really humbling to have them chose to fly with you.”

Thermals help these birds to reach incredible heights, most of which would be deadly to other species of birds. A series of cardio-vascular adaptations means that vultures are able to fly at heights where oxygen levels are at their thinnest, with one particular Ruppell’s Griffon vulture reaching almost 11.5 kilometres!

Wind Turbines

At the Moroccan rehabilitation centre the team also heard some worrying news. In addition to the threats posed by pylons and power lines, there are plans to build a vast wind farm right where there is a migration bottleneck the narrowest crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar). The turbines would also require a further network of powerlines to transport power to the grid. It could be catastrophic.

They are hoping that there will be enough consultation before this goes ahead to ensure the turbines are not built in an area that will see yet more mass mortality.