Saving Nigeria's vultures

Summary

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The Documentary Podcast – "Saving Nigeria's Vultures"

Host: Fadanak Amidi (BBC World Service)
Guest: Makwo Chiokofor (BBC West Africa Journalist)
Release Date: July 25, 2026

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Episode Overview

This compelling episode explores the dramatic decline of vulture populations in Nigeria and West Africa. BBC journalist Makwo Chiokofor reveals the vital ecological role vultures play, the reasons behind their endangerment—including poaching, traditional beliefs, and international trade—and spotlights innovative conservation efforts in Anambra State, where cultural practices have helped create a sanctuary for these misunderstood birds.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Observations: The Disappearance of Vultures in Nigeria

• Makwo Chiokofor reminisces about his childhood in Enugu, where vultures were once common, especially around marketplaces and abattoirs.
  • "I remember when I go to market with my mom... you would see vultures literally like hanging on the roof, playing around and all that. But I've realized that I don't see them quite often anymore."
    [03:49]
• Notes the near-absence of vultures in Lagos today, highlighting the steep decline.

2. Severity of Decline and Global Attention

• Conservationists have raised the alarm, labeling Nigerian vultures as critically endangered.
  • "It's quite serious... it's actually very serious, especially here in Nigeria and across West Africa.” — Makwo Chiokofor [04:32]

3. Ecological Importance of Vultures

• Vultures described as "trash movers" of the wild, crucial for public health:
  • They consume carcasses—including bones—and their acidic digestive systems neutralize dangerous pathogens.
  • Their loss could lead to increased spread of diseases and contamination of water sources.
  • "They clean up the carcasses. When you have them out of the wild... these carcasses are going to be there and they're going to potentially spread disease." — Makwo Chiokofor [05:00]

4. Root Causes of Population Decline

Multiple factors at play:

• Negative Perceptions:
  • Vultures seen as unpleasant, leading to neglect or active poisoning.
• Traditional Practices and Medicine:
  • Used widely in African spiritual and healing practices (protection, good luck, and medicinal charms).
  • “People use vulture parts, sometimes the feathers, eggs, nests, for protection... also used for health reasons, pregnant women, people who have ailments that they can't cure.” — Makwo Chiokofor [07:32]
  • High and rising local demand: Vulture prices have skyrocketed due to scarcity, with prices rising from 50,000 Naira to 250,000 Naira in five years. [10:00]
• International Trafficking:
  • Nigeria serves as a hub for vulture trafficking, exploiting porous borders and major ports; vultures are often shipped to Asia (notably China and South Korea) for traditional medicine.
  • "Nigeria not just being a country where vultures are hunted, but also a transient country... shipped off to continents like Asia." — Makwo Chiokofor [11:02]
• Urbanization and Habitat Loss:
  • Rapid city growth and deforestation are destroying nesting sites.
  • Low reproductive rates exacerbate the problem (vultures may have only one chick per lifetime).
  • "Vultures need trees. And when you cut down their trees and take away their nest and eggs, they're not going to be vultures." — Makwo Chiokofor [09:22]

5. How the Vulture Trade Works

• Sourcing:
  • Local hunters fulfill requests from traditional healers, who then use parts for rituals or facilitate export.
  • "Local hunters... know exactly where to get the vultures, where to get the nests, where to get the eggs." — Makwo Chiokofor [12:33]

6. Hope: Conservation Initiatives in Anambra State

• Case Study: Oka Ititi Community
  • Here, vultures are protected due to unique local beliefs viewing them as good omens.
  • Conservationists partner with local volunteers—dubbed “the king of vultures”—to monitor and protect vultures and spread awareness in neighboring communities.
  • Significant population increase:
    • "They used to record just... 15 vultures. But now... up to 150 vultures." — Makwo Chiokofor [15:08]
  • Exemplifies how traditional beliefs and conservation science can collaborate for positive impact.
  • "It's like a beautiful mix of traditional worship and science marrying to produce such a good result." — Makwo Chiokofor [14:12]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On why people value “cuter” animals:

  • "The cute, cuddly and beautiful all win the day... It's not so easy to get the public's attention when it comes to animals that are perceived as weird or creepy or downright unpleasant."
    — Fadanak Amidi [02:56]

• On the urgency of the crisis:

  • "With roughly 70% of vultures globally under threat of extinction, Nigeria's vultures are no exception."
    — Fadanak Amidi [03:07]

• On changing prices:

  • "As at five years ago, a vulture or a vulture part could be as low as 50,000 Naira, but because of the high demand, now they go as high as 250,000 Naira."
    — Makwo Chiokofor [10:21]

• On cultural collaboration:

  • "It's like a beautiful mix of traditional worship and science marrying to produce such a good result."
    — Makwo Chiokofor [14:12]

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Key Timestamps

• [03:49] – Makwo Chiokofor on personal memories of vultures and their absence today
• [04:55] – Explanation of vultures' ecological role
• [06:37] – Causes of population decline
• [07:32] – Vultures in traditional medicine and spiritual practices
• [10:21] – Rising black-market prices for vulture parts
• [11:02] – International trafficking and Asian demand
• [12:33] – How hunters and healers source vultures
• [13:28] – Conservation work in Anambra
• [15:08] – Population recovery results in Oka Ititi

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Tone & Style

The conversation is conversational, clear, and analytical—with a subtle but passionate urge for awareness and change. Makwo is factual but warm and occasionally nostalgic; Fadanak keeps the discussion accessible, balancing personal stories with hard facts.

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Conclusion

"Saving Nigeria’s Vultures" draws attention to an invisible ecological crisis. The episode blends childhood memories, detailed ecological explanation, and investigative reporting on cultural and economic forces driving vulture decline—ending with hope that conservation, aided by local tradition, can bring these crucial birds back from the brink.

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For more on this topic:

• Explore BBC West Africa’s continuing coverage of wildlife conservation
• Look up the Nigerian Conservation Fellowship and their programs in Anambra
• Share this episode to help widen the conversation about protecting unglamorous but essential species

Transcript

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[Fadanak Amidi]

This is the documentary from the BBC World Service Foreign. Welcome to the fifth floor from the BBC World Service with me, Fadanak Amidi. The BBC World Service broadcasts in 45 languages around the world. Our job here at the fifth floor is to bring you the best of those stories and English and to also get you closer to the extraordinary work our journalists do. Coming up on the Fifth Floor we hear about the Russian vigilante group who takes it upon themselves to uphold Putin's so called traditional Russian values.

[Amalia Zaatari]

They're rather orthodox so they have good relations with the Russian Orthodox Church. They of course pro war so they support Russian war against Ukraine. They are against LGBT people. They are actively promoting the abortion ban in Russia. They don't like being labeled as nationalists or far right. They call themselves patriots, but their rhetoric could be described as nationalist.

[Fadanak Amidi]

And we hear about the changing reputation of the last Empress of Vietnam.

[Duke Ha]

She was truly ways ahead of her time. It represents a brand new style of women back then as she was smart, fluent in French, confident yet still deeply respectful of her rules. She was never just the wife of the king.

[Fadanak Amidi]

But first when it comes to conservation, the cute, cuddly and beautiful all win the day. We can all get behind a project to protect pangolins or pandas. It's not so easy to get the public's attention when it comes to animals that are perceived as weird or creepy or downright unpleasant. The vulture, traditionally associated with death and carrion, falls into this unlucky group with roughly 70% of vultures globally under threat of extinction. Nigeria's vultures are no exception. BBC West Africa journalist Makwo Chiokofor, based in Lagos, has been investigating this story and he's here to talk about his findings. So when you were a child, Makoji, how common was it to see vultures?

[Makwo Chiokofor]

It was actually quite common. So I grew up in the. I didn't grow up in Lagos, which is a big city. In a smaller city, vultures were quite common in Enugu, southeastern part of Nigeria. I remember when I go to market with my mom and she goes to pick up meat in the abattoir, you would see vultures literally like hanging on the roof, playing around and all that. But I've realized that I don't see them quite often anymore. While I haven't been to Enugu so recently, because I left there a couple of years ago, I just noticed that I haven't seen vultures almost at all here in Lagos.

[Fadanak Amidi]

So how serious is the decline of population of vultures according to conservationists?

[Makwo Chiokofor]

The conservationists that I've been speaking with said is actually very serious, Especially here in Nigeria and across West Africa. They've talked about things moving to actually receiving global attention enough for vultures being labeled as critically endangered in Nigeria. So it's quite serious.

[Fadanak Amidi]

Why are they so important ecologically?

[Makwo Chiokofor]

Think of vultures as trash movers. Now, imagine in your streets, people put out trash, but there is nobody to move to trash. Everybody's going to be sick in a couple of weeks. Now, in the forest, in the wild, when carcasses die, when animals die, or when some animals hunt, what they need pick up probably just the head or the heart, and they leave the rest of it. There's a potential that everything is going to get rotten and perhaps get washed into water that people drink or spread diseases. But vultures are very special because they don't just eat flesh, they actually eat bone. They have such a complex digestive system that is so acidic that it can swallow bones and it doesn't hurt them. And even the diseases that animals carry, most times they have such protected immune system that it doesn't affect them. So they clean up the trash, they clean up the carcasses. When you have them out of the wild, out of the ecosystem, then these carcasses are going to be there and they're going to potentially spread disease. They're going to be washed into water bodies, and people are going to drink out of these water bodies and everybody's going to fall sick. So conservationists are saying that this is why we're also seeing rise of diseases, zoonotic diseases that diseases that we get from animals in our world today. Lots of people are noticing now that vultures are disappearing, particularly from big cities and even smaller rural areas, so much that there's now a national alarm on it even reaching to the government. And it's quite a big deal now.

[Fadanak Amidi]

But what is the reason for this decline?

[Makwo Chiokofor]

So it's a mix of many things. I've been researching on this for quite a while and I've had to even travel to some communities during the course of my research. And I've spoken to lots of conservationists. There are traditional reasons to why vultures are disappearing. Vultures aren't particularly seen as cute. They are not there. You see them in trash. So they're not as pretty as those birds that we like. So they're ignored. Sometimes they are poisoned because people don't want them around their homes. They are shushed away. But these are like the smaller issues. The bigger issues remains that vultures are being hunted for many reasons. First, there is an international market, according to the conservationists I've been speaking for vultures. Vultures have been taken from Nigeria, from West Africa, from Africa, and they're being shipped to other continents, sometimes Asia, for medicine, from what I've gathered. But beyond that, locally, there are lots of traditional African worship where vultures and vulture eggs and vulture nests are used for what people consider as black magic or juju. Locally, we still have lots of people who practice traditional worship and they use this for protection, they use this for medication, local traditional drugs. They use this for gulag charm. So it's a complex mix of many things. So for the traditional worshipers who tend to use vultures for their practices, there are lots of uses. From what I've gathered, people use vulture parts, sometimes the feathers, sometimes the eggs, sometimes the nests, for protection. Say you want to travel and you need spiritual protection. These are some of the parts that people, the healers and the traditional leaders, worshipers, will use to make such charm for you. Now, people also use vultures, from what I've gathered, for good luck charm. You're about to go for an exam or you want to go for an interview, and you want to be sure you get your good luck. Vultures are used also used for health reasons, pregnant women, people who have ailments that they can't cure. And sometimes people locally may not want to either go to octodos medicine because they don't trust it, or it is too expensive. These people have no health insurance coverage. So easier to just go to the traditional healer and get answers to the health issues you have. So this sort of puts pressure on the vulture population and there are many other practices around it, but it covers both health, good luck, protection and things like that. Then lastly, because urbanization is rising across many Nigerian and African cities, lots of trees are being cut down. Vultures need trees. And when you cut down their trees and take away their nest and take away their eggs, they're not going to be vultures. So this has been happening so fast and so critically. And unfortunately, vultures aren't like cats that have lots of pups. They have maybe one chick all their life. And when you do this, it takes lots of years to replenish.

[Fadanak Amidi]

You mentioned that in Nigeria, vultures are used for medicinal and spiritual practices. How widespread is this?

[Makwo Chiokofor]

I may not personally know by experience because I'm not involved in traditional worship, but from what I've heard, it is widespread. The conservationists that have spoken been speaking with said they sometimes engage traditional healers who tell them, as at five years ago, a vulture or a vulture part could be as low as 50,000 Naira, but because of the high demand, now they go as high as 250,000 Naira. People really are hunting and looking for vouchers for these purposes. I've also heard that sometimes, especially when there is meant to be some big spiritual festivals, you get to get lots of demand for vultures. So it is perhaps quite widespread, at least enough to make such impact on our environment and the ecology.

[Fadanak Amidi]

And what about the international demand?

[Makwo Chiokofor]

Oh, now that is a huge one. So conservationists have been speaking. We talked about Nigeria not just being a country where vultures are hunted, but also a transient country. So people move their trade from across West Africa into Nigeria, where they are now shipped off to continents like Asia and other parts of the world. It is quite huge, but unfortunately, Nigeria is one of those countries where there's a bit of porous borders and it just makes it the fertile ground for such trade.

[Fadanak Amidi]

So tell us about the links that have been identified with Asian countries.

[Makwo Chiokofor]

There's been specifics in countries like China. There's also been South Korea, but this is not as heavy as it is in countries like China. That's been one of the hotspots where such trades, vultures and even other animals move from West Africa.

[Fadanak Amidi]

And how did Nigeria become the trading ground for this?

[Makwo Chiokofor]

Nigeria is a huge country. It is more like the commercial capital of West Africa, if I'm to say lots of trades and goods. Move through here. We have quite a very active port that is also very open, more or less. So lots of trade and commercial activities happen historically, even beyond now, from the pre colonial times. So it has just made Nigeria the perfect hotspot.

[Fadanak Amidi]

How do they source them, do you know?

[Makwo Chiokofor]

Most times they go through local hunters, from what I've heard. So there are lots of local hunters who find this very lucrative. So these people, local hunters, have links with herbal like healers, traditional healers who make such requests and say, hi, Mr. Hunter, I have a request for five vultures. Could you get this for me? And those hunters, because they practically live in the forest and in the bushes, know exactly where to get the vultures, where to get the nests, where to get the eggs. So they are more or less like the middlemen who moved these vultures to the traditional healers who either make the medicines or facilitate the trade internationally.

[Fadanak Amidi]

But it's not all doom and gloom. There's some good work being done. Tell us about the work that the conservationists are doing in Anambra state.

[Makwo Chiokofor]

Yes, I traveled from Lagos to Anambra, quite a long journey. It was like an hour flight. And I went to a particular community called Oka Ititi. Now in this place, unlike communities near them, vultures are kept safe. They're considered sacred because of, surprisingly, by their own traditional worship, vultures are seen as good omen. So when they offer sacrifices to the deity, if a vulture picks it up, they are happy because he feels like all our sacrifices have been taken up. So this is what happens in all ktt. Now, conservationists found out about it and decided that these are the perfect food soldiers, quote, unquote, pick up and hire as volunteers who will preach the good gospel of vultures to not just their own community, but communities around them. So the Nigerian Conservation Fellowship, one of the conservation units in Nigeria, started working with locals in this community. So they ensure that they monitor, they track, they equip the community people to also not just already encourage a culture of saving vultures and seeing that they have a safe haven, but also to tell neighboring communities and even stop hunters who sometimes move into their community from grabbing vultures. So this is what they have done. So it's like a beautiful mix of traditional worship and science marrying to produce such a good result.

[Fadanak Amidi]

So what has been the result? What changes have you seen?

[Makwo Chiokofor]

I have spoken with one man in that community who they have said is at the center of the awareness program. They call him the king of vultures. And he said as at 2017, he started the monitoring of vultures with his binoculars and some of the trainings he has received from the conservationists. He said that they used to record just sighting about 15 vultures, 16 vultures. But now fast forward to years later, they actually record up to 150vultures, 160vultures. Yes, that's an indication of sharp results, more or less, because they have been not just shushing people away who want to come hunt vultures because of the practice they have in their community. It also encourages vultures from neighboring places to come get some safety in their community.

[Fadanak Amidi]

Thank you so much.

[Makwo Chiokofor]

You're welcome.

[Fadanak Amidi]

Thank you. Makwochi Okafor from BBC West Africa. In Vietnam, the Last Empress a new film inspired by the life of the final empress of the Gui Yen Dynasty appears to be provoking a strong reaction. Nam Fuang is a well known historical figure in Vietnam, but along with her husband Bao Dai, who abdicated in 1945, she was also seen as a puppet of the French colonial regime. Nam Fuang, educated in France and raised in a Catholic family, faced much criticism and the couple were often portrayed as neglecting their country and indulging in a life of luxury while the people suffered from hunger, a framing that underscored the legitimacy of the post monarchical government. Since the release of the trailer of the Last Empress, this years long debate in Vietnam about the couple has bubbled back to life. Meanwhile, a group of their descendants have publicly called on filmmakers to treat Vietnam's history and cultural heritage with care and respect following renewed criticism and of their ancestors. Duke ha from the BBC's Bangkok bureau told the fifth floor he hopes it may become possible for Vietnamese people to see the human story behind all the debate around Vietnam's last royals.

[Duke Ha]

It's easy to judge them strictly, but to be fair, they were just people caught in a very chaotic times in history of Vietnam and Namfeng. According to several researchers, she was truly ways ahead of her time. Raised in Southern Vietnam and educated in France, she represents a brand new style of women back then as she was smart, fluent in French, confident, yet still deeply respectful of her rules. She was never just the wife of the King. She handled her marriage with incredible class and self respect. And when the royal era ended, she didn't break down. She stayed strong, quietly raising her kids on her row with so much grace. So I think maybe it's time people stop judging them so harshly and start looking at their story with a bit more fairness.

[Fadanak Amidi]

For now, the Last Empress is sparking a wider conversation in Vietnam about how the country's history should be portrayed on screen. Thank you, Duke Ha from the BBC's Bangkok bureau. You are listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

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[Makwo Chiokofor]

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[Fadanak Amidi]

This is the fifth floor and I'm Fahrenheit me D In a private party in a Russian town, Katya was about to blow out the candles on her 30th birthday cake when masked men burst into the nightclub that she had hired and began physically and verbally attacking her friends. The swoop was instigated by a vigilante group called Russkaya Opshina that wants to accelerate President Vladimir Putin's agenda to stamp out what he describes as Western liberalism and promote traditional family orientated values. As is sometimes the case in these raids, members of the town's police also joined them, shutting down the party and interrogating the guests. Amalia Zaatari of BBC Russian has been looking into this vigilante group and she Joins me now. Hi Amelia. Welcome to the fifth floor. So can you tell us what are the main values of this group, Russkaya

[Amalia Zaatari]

Opshina, as you said, they support Putin's agenda on traditional values, the rather Orthodox. So they have good relations with the Russian Orthodox Church. They of course pro war, so they support Russian war against Ukraine. They are against LGBT people. They are actively promoting the abortion ban in Russia. They don't like being labeled as nationalists or far right. They call themselves patriots, but their rhetoric could be described as nationalist. Their content in social media is full of hate speech towards migrants and their rhetoric and views are very, very anti migrant.

[Fadanak Amidi]

So tell me about some of the things they do, what kind of operations or things they are involved in.

[Amalia Zaatari]

They participate actively in Russian Orthodox Church events and celebrates Orthodox holidays. Also they raise funds for Russian troops in Ukraine and not just medicaments or cloth, for example, but also military supplies like drones and so on. Also they participate actively in police raids in areas, for example, where migrants live. Also they're pretty active in filing denunciations and complaints with the authorities calling for cancellation of different events, for example, concerts by musicians who oppose the war or basically just not support the war.

[Fadanak Amidi]

You actually got to speak to Katya, the woman who had her birthday party in a club raided by this group. What does she tell you about her experience and what happened to her and her friends?

[Amalia Zaatari]

Katya is a young woman from Russian city of. So her party attracted some people with unusual appearance, for example, with piercing, with like unusual way of styling themselves. Ruska Abshina didn't like her parties. They said it was LGBT parties and I think they also mentioned that it was sex parties. But actually she did nothing wrong. Her parties were not illegal. But Ruzka Opshina raided her party with the police. They verbally abused people and they checked their documents and they were looking for anything basically for any LGBT propaganda, whatever it might be, because LGBT propaganda is banned in Russia. But they didn't find anything. Later, after the raid, Katya was convicted for blasphemy because there had been a red neon like cross shaped light hanging on the wall. So. So the party basically ended up for Katya with a criminal case against her.

[Fadanak Amidi]

We have a clip of Katya talking about her experience. Let's have a listen.

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I feel that people from Russkaya Opshina

[Fadanak Amidi]

created an incident to be offended.

[Advertisement Voice]

If Russkaya Opshina hadn't broken into my party, they wouldn't have been offended and found a reason to punish me.

[Fadanak Amidi]

And you actually got to speak to someone who was in the Russkaya Opshina at the time that you spoke with him and you called him Dimitri, we have a clip of him speaking to you. So let's have a listen.

[Makwo Chiokofor]

If I had to describe Russkaya Opshina in one word, it has to be brotherhood. People are just tired of all this chaos. They see the police aren't coping, they want to help society to keep the streets safe. It's a resistance to foreign invasion.

[Fadanak Amidi]

What is he talking about there?

[Amalia Zaatari]

Yes, he called Truska Apshina like Russian brother, what he said. And actually he. He also said a lot of pretty weird things about it. For example, he compared migrants with a virus and Russia with a human body. And he said that Russia is like something which is defending human body from this virus outside.

[Fadanak Amidi]

And I know that you looked at the data for their subscriptions on their telegram channel and there was a spike in their subscription back in March of 2024. Why is that?

[Amalia Zaatari]

In March 2024 there was a. A big attack on Russian Crocus. City hall is the place where a lot of like big gigs and like concerts took place in outskirts of Moscow. And it was the huge attack in Russia. More than 140 people were killed there and hundreds were injured. After the attack, Russian police detained attackers who held Tajikistan citizenship. And that caused a huge growth of anti migrants use among Russian people. So at that point, the content of Ruska Obschina got many, many views and was widely shared and they got many, many new followers.

[Fadanak Amidi]

And are there any other reasons why they are gaining more popularity these days?

[Amalia Zaatari]

After the war started, Russian authorities need support from ordinary people, from ordinary Russians. And Russian nationalists were among the first people who supported the war and who agreed to promote this like Russian narratives, Kremlin narratives and Russian war propaganda. But now I think Russian authorities are trying to somehow divide themselves from Ruska Pshina because there was a case when a person died after Ruska Pshina raided his house. And you know, when there are so many people with so radical views in a group, basically a lot of men, some of whom have combat experience, because there are members of Ruska Pshina who actually participated in Russian war in Ukraine and then like got injured and joined Ruska Pshina. Now it's, I think it's an open question what would happen with Ruska, because it's not clear if Russian authorities still need such a radical group or not.

[Fadanak Amidi]

Thank you, Amalia Zaatari of Bibi Sirus. And if you want to watch Amalia's film, you can find it on YouTube. It's called Inside Russia's New Pro Kremlin Vigilantes. That's all we've got time for today. If you want to let us know what you think about the show or you have questions for us, send an email to the fifth [e-mail] we love hearing from you. You can write to us at the fifth floor all1wordbc.co.uk. You are listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

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