Risks to Birds Traded for African Traditional Medicine: A Quantitative Assessment

Few regional or continent-wide assessments of bird use for traditional medicine have been attempted anywhere in the world. Africa has the highest known diversity of bird species used for this purpose. This study assesses the vulnerability of 354 bird species used for traditional medicine in 25 African countries, from 205 genera, 70 families, and 25 orders. The orders most represented were Passeriformes (107 species), Falconiformes (45 species), and Coraciiformes (24 species), and the families Accipitridae (37 species), Ardeidae (15 species), and Bucerotidae (12 species). The Barn owl (Tyto alba) was the most widely sold species (seven countries). The similarity of avifaunal orders traded is high (analogous to ‘‘morphospecies’’, and using Sørensen’s index), which suggests opportunities for a common understanding of cultural factors driving demand. The highest similarity was between bird orders sold in markets of Benin vs. Burkina Faso (90%), but even bird orders sold in two geographically separated countries (Benin vs. South Africa and Nigeria vs. South Africa) were 87% and 81% similar, respectively. Rabinowitz’s ‘‘7 forms of rarity’’ model, used to group species according to commonness or rarity, indicated that 24% of traded bird species are very common, locally abundant in several habitats, and occur over a large geographical area, but 10% are rare, occur in low numbers in specific habitats, and over a small geographical area. The order with the highest proportion of rare species was the Musophagiformes. An analysis of species mass (as a proxy for size) indicated that large and/or conspicuous species tend to be targeted by harvesters for the traditional medicine trade. Furthermore, based on cluster analyses for species groups of similar risk, vultures, hornbills, and other large avifauna, such as bustards, are most threatened by selective harvesting and should be prioritised for conservation action.University of the Witwatersrand SPARC Prestigious and URC Postdoctoral Fellowships; National Research Foundatio

Mean mass (g) of bird species sold for traditional medicine within each of the eight Rabinowitz rarity classes.

<p>Mean mass (g) of bird species sold for traditional medicine within each of the eight Rabinowitz rarity classes.</p

Comparisons of the percentage similarity of species and orders of birds sold at different markets, showing the low similarity at the species level and high similarity at the order level.

<p>Comparisons of the percentage similarity of species and orders of birds sold at different markets, showing the low similarity at the species level and high similarity at the order level.</p

Number and percentage of traded species dichotomized according to their distribution range, population size and habitat specificity factors (excludes PALs and exotics).

a<p>6,790,000km² is the median EOO for all the species investigated.</p><p>Number and percentage of traded species dichotomized according to their distribution range, population size and habitat specificity factors (excludes PALs and exotics).</p

The observed proportion of traded species in each Rabinowitz category of commonness or rarity for two West African countries (Benin and Nigeria), for South Africa and the ‘Total’ for seven countries combined.

<p>The observed proportion of traded species in each Rabinowitz category of commonness or rarity for two West African countries (Benin and Nigeria), for South Africa and the ‘Total’ for seven countries combined.</p

Summary of the number of avian taxa per order used and sold for traditional medicine. The totals exclude the 45 unidentified taxa.

a<p>the Family Indictoridae (Honeyguides) are absent from the traded species list, hence <i>S</i> = 69 traded families;</p>b<p>includes migrant Palearctic (PAL) bird species;</p>d<p>includes 1 exotic species.</p><p>Summary of the number of avian taxa per order used and sold for traditional medicine. The totals exclude the 45 unidentified taxa.</p

The number of identified and unidentified avian taxa used for traditional medicine between 25 African countries.

a<p>288 species after the exclusion of PALs and exotics.</p><p>The number of identified and unidentified avian taxa used for traditional medicine between 25 African countries.</p

IUCN Red List status, rarity categories and population trends for traded species, where species in categories A and H are least and most rare respectively (excluding PALs and exotics).

a<p>EN = Endangered; VU = Vulnerable; NT = Near Threatened; LC = Least Concern.</p><p>IUCN Red List status, rarity categories and population trends for traded species, where species in categories A and H are least and most rare respectively (excluding PALs and exotics).</p

African bird species in the traditional medicine trade.

<p><b>A</b>. Heads of a variety of species, including a Western Grey Plantain-eater (<i>Crinifer piscator</i>), Double-toothed Barbet (<i>Lybius bidentatus</i>), Red-billed Hornbill (<i>Tockus erythrorhynchus</i>) and Double-spurred Francolin (<i>Francolinus albogularis</i>) (Ouagadougou market, Burkina Faso). <b>B</b>. Vultures and raptors, a high conservation priority group, sold here in Xipamanine market, Maputo, Mozambique. <b>C</b>. A basket of more than 15 species, including Broad-billed Roller (<i>Eurystomis glaucurus</i>), Fine-spotted Woodpecker (<i>Campethera punctuligera</i>), African Wood-Owl (<i>Strix woodfordii</i>), Rose-ringed Parakeet (<i>Psittacula krameri</i>), White Helmet-Shrike (<i>Prionops plumatus</i>), and Standard-winged Nightjar (<i>Macrodipteryx longipennis</i>) (Dantokpa market, Benin). <b>D</b>. Senegal Parrot (<i>Poicephalus senegalus</i>) (Ouagadougou market, Burkina Faso). [Photos: A.B. Cunningham]</p

Rabinowitz's 7 forms of rarity based on three traits.

<p>Letters in brackets indicate the rarity class, whereas numbers in bold in brackets indicate the ranks assigned to each rarity class. [Adapted from 52,54,99]</p><p>Rabinowitz's 7 forms of rarity based on three traits.</p