Consider the white-backed vulture. As it flies majestically through the sunlit sky with its medium-sized body, blunt talons, and bare head, it scours for carrion that might be present on the terrain. At the midst of its group, it looks for carrion on the ground for it to eat with its pack. Suddenly, it spots a dead deer, perfect for the pack to feed on. The pack descends, and they eat to their heart’s content. Little do they know that this deer had died from ingesting plants that were treated by the pesticide Furadan. This pesticide made its way into the vulture’s system as well. This pesticide is deadly for it, and has affected millions of these vultures to the extent that this vulture is critically endangered.

This is a problem, considering the contributions this vulture gives to its environment. They are a key component to a healthy ecosystem. They keep the environment clean and free of many contagious diseases. Partially due to the endangerment of various species of vultures, diseases like rabies are spreading. According to GlobalAnimal, in India (home of the now critically endangered Gyps bengalensis) there is now the highest rate of rabies in the world. This does not just hold true to vultures. Two widely used pesticides (malathion and chlorpyrifos) are threatening 97% of the endangered species in the United States. Each of these species has some role in its ecosystem. We can prevent future damage by limiting the spread of certain deadly pesticides.

To understand the white-backed vulture, a primary focus of conservationists who are speaking out against pesticides, you must look at its evolutionary history. The white-backed vulture is classified as followed, starting with its kingdom to species; Animalia, Chordata, Aves, Accipitriformes, Accipitridae, Gyps, with species being Gyps africanus. Emerging from the Chordata phylum with characteristics like a notochord, it originated from a common ancestor of deuterostomes according to sources. Also, while the species is Gyps africanus, molecular data doesn’t support it splitting from the genus Gyps, but no changes have been made from this data yet. 
The white-backed vulture inhabits the savanna and wooded country. It is mostly found around the Africa, mostly in Kenya. They eat the carcasses of the animals in their habitat. The water streams in the wet seasons allow the vultures to access food better. In their habitat, they have the role of scavengers. They nest in colonies, usually consisting of two to thirteen of the vultures. They normally croak while near nests or carcasses.  

Due to the vulture being from sub-Saharan African, it is struggling with habitat loss and lack of “healthy” prey. As more humans come and use the environment for agriculture and begin to destroy its home, the vulture is no longer able to thrive in its home ecosystem and will soon run out of edible carcasses. Due to the pesticide “Furadan” being added to many farms in Kenya, the hyenas and herbivores who destroy and eat the crops of the agricultural area will ingest the poisonous substance that stays inside them, even after death. When the vultures eat the corpses of hyenas or rabbits, they will then also be unintentionally poisoned by the harmful carrion. These vultures will not be able to survive in their habitat if humans keep expanding, farming, and adding poison to the animals of the region with Furadan and other dangerous chemicals.  

While Furadan has been banned by the Kenyan government, there are many more pesticides in circulation that are killing more and more animals and humans. For instance, there is the aforementioned chlorpyrifos, a pesticide which is reported to have adverse effects on neurodevelopment, reduced birth size, endocrince disruption, and lung and prostate cancer in humans. It can also reach bodies of water, where it can concentrate in fatty tissues of the fish living therein, according to the Pesticide Action Network. Fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles, mammals, bees, and other beneficial insects are also at risk due to this pesticide. Despite the dangers presented, the EPA made the decision last year not to ban this deadly pesticide. We need this to change. 

In conclusion, based on the ecology of the organism and current problems it is facing, we must do something to stop the spread of pesticides and help the population of the white-backed vulture. To spread awareness and to try to put a stop to pesticide, we have decided to create this petition against the use and distribution of certain pesticides. Using these measures to get the word out will help spread our message that using poisonous substances to aid crops will do much more harm to the environment and future production of agriculture if you impact the food chain and ecosystem of the region.