Where Have the Vultures Gone?

zimuche

Feb 6

The much talked about environmental degradation, like the proverbial thief, has crawled unto us unawares. I bet only few people pay attention and fewer still seem ignorant of the danger it constitutes. Worse still it's already devastating some parts of the country like a cancer, and those not in the direct line of its impact have no feeling what it sounds like. Okay! Pay attention briefly.

The rain forest is home to a diverse audience of creatures

I spent this last Christmas in my village, Eme Eri Ohagwu, whe nwenkwogwu in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area.
Christmas is usually a time for occassions and merriment for all; not so for the animals that bear the brunt anyway. Various animals ranging from cows, goats, chicken etc surrender their lives in legions in forced sacrifice for the merriment of man. So it has been for centuries. However this time around, I observed something of interest and at same time worrisome.

In geography, my region is classified as falling into the tropical rain forest . Being too far removed from coastal areas, it is a hinterland. You can see why in 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝐹𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐴𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 by Chinua Achebe , the district officer who was taken to see where Okonkwo's body was dangling from a tree decided to title his book 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑁𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑟.

Majestic iroko has become extinct in Mbaise

You see the tropical rain forest harbours thick forests made up of various gigantic trees like iroko, obeche etc. This habitation provided shades for animals and man. Giant trees with impossible to reach tops provided big birds like eagles and vultures good enough security to build nests, lay eggs and hatch them in safety.

You see the tropical rain forest harbours thick forests made up of various gigantic trees like iroko, obeche etc. This habitation provided shades for animals and man.

Despite the heights and distance of these habitations to human dwellings, the vulture had an uncanny ability that is beyond the comprehension of man to smell blood or trace the slaughter of an animal from very far distance. The appearance of vultures anywhere an animal is slaughtered is so natural that the Igbo moulded idioms linking presence of vultures to animal sacrifice. Igbos say "achuchaa aja ma afuro udele, ihe mere na be ndi mmuo" meaning if after an animal sacrifice and the vulture fails to turn up, something must be wrong in the land of the spirits.

Even the eagle has been rendered homeless by logging activities.

My Brother, I tell you, vultures are no longer anywhere to be seen in Mbaise no matter how many animals you sacrifice or slaughter. This last Christmas, I witnessed the slaughter of 9 cows for an event. Not even one so single vulture showed up. However, since nature abhores vacuum, another type of bird that was not there about ten years ago now hovers around sites of animal slaughter. It is the crow. A black bird with white under belly, the size of a pigeon .

So where are the vutures gone? Has something bad happened in the land of the spirits? This made me pay more attention and I started to observe.

Does it occur to you that today's children will only see in photos and cinemas, images of iroko and vultures?

First, I now noticed that iroko trees that were rampant within the locality are all gone. As recently as 20 years ago (2003) you hardly will move a distance of 5 kilometer radius without seeing an iroko tree. They were breeding ground and habitat for vultures. The trees were sold to loggers and merchants who deal in woods. Today through out the length and breadth of Mbaise, you hardly will see any iroko tree.

Iroko trees provided shade and a home a wide variety of animals

The iroko tree is so majestic that it used to serve as landmark. It was even revered that people took titles that likened them to iroko. Communities with so many of the trees were named Umuorji. Today, the proud iroko is gone and so are it's dwellers like the vultures, which no longer show up after animal slaughter, not because something has gone wrong in the land of the spirits, but because people in the land of the living have been destroying the eco system. Does it occur to you that today's children will only see in photos and cinemas, images of iroko and vultures?

Loggers have taken away the balance in our ecosystem.

So you see how our acts are degrading the environment, endengering the eco system, displacing birds and animals. The results of our acts are showing. It could get worse if we should continue this way. You never can tell when our actions knock out an community.

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