2 сентября — Международный день знаний о падальщиках

2 сентября 2023 года отмечается Международный день знаний о птицах-падальщиках. Казахстан впервые принимает участие в этой кампании.

Since 2009, ornithologists have been trying to draw public attention to these birds that are essential to biodiversity on the first Saturday of September. They created awareness campaign on the ecological role of scavengers, their conservation status, and threats that affect them.

Vulture Awareness Day was initiated by the Hawk Conservancy Trust in the Great Britain and the World Wildlife Fund’s raptor species program in South Africa. Initially, only two organizations came together to create this event, and then expanded their initiative into an international information campaign.

Fow many years now, scientists from different countries have been drawing public attention to the problems of vultures with this initiative, talking about benefits brought by them, holding entertainment and educational events for children and adults, and explaining what can be done to save vultures.

Падальщики – это хищные птицы, питающиеся падалью. Они не нападают на животных, а поедают их уже после того, как те пали. Всего в природе насчитывается 23 вида птиц-падальщиков, которые обитают в Азии, Европе, Африке, Северной и Южной Америке. Они нередко доживают до 30-40, а в некоторых случаях и до 50 лет.

Birds of these species play an important role of “nature orderlies”, ridding the ecosystem of decaying organisms. By eating dead animals, vultures prevent the spread of various infectious diseases.

Five vulture species live in Kazakhstan, three of them are listed in the Red Book. These are the following: Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus), Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), and Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis). Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) and Eurasian Griffon (Gyps fulvus) are still not under state protection despite having the lowest abundance among all vultures in Kazakhstan.