Ivan Zhakata-Herald Correspondent

People from all over the country and the world come to observe different kinds of birds at Lake Chivero on the outskirts of Harare and other native habitats spread across the country.

In Zimbabwe, as well as in other countries, birding is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and a vital source of income in many communities.

But rapid urbanisation and pollution are increasingly threatening bird habitats at Lake Chivero and the bird viewing tourism business.

Pollution of wetlands and growing use of chemicals is also threatening bird diversity, with some species increasingly becoming extinct.

The chopping down of trees and poisoning of mice and rodents for food by people has also affected flesh eating birds that end up dying because of poisoning.

The Lake Chivero environment has become a threat to bird life as there is continuous environmental destruction and poisoning of field mice that has affected more than 400 species of indigenous birds in the area.

The Lake Chivero wetland has over 404 known species of indigenous birds under threat because of environmental pollution.

Zimbabwe has over 660 bird species and the country has no endemic birds, but several near-endemics can be found in the globally important eastern mountains Endemic Bird Area (EBA).

A report about two fish eagles which were poisoned at Lake Chivero recently show the gravity of the crisis facing the country’s bird biodiversity.

Fish eagles have a symbolic significance as they are featured on the country’s major emblems, commonly referred as the Zimbabwe Bird.

One fish eagle died and the other was rescued by Mr Gary Stafford, the founder of Kuimba Shiri Bird Sanctuary, which takes care of poisoned, injured and orphaned birds.

 Mr Stafford, who is also the vice president of Lake Users Association, said the two fish eagles were poisoned after eating field mice that was poisoned by people from the local community.

“A fish eagle is important because it is a national bird,” he said. “It is also on the endangered list, specially protected and what is really amazing is that it is actually a totem and a cultural bird as well for other people.”

Mr Stafford said though they could not manage to save the first fish eagle, the second one came with the same ailments and was quickly diagnosed and saved.

“The first one was brought in and we diagnosed it,” he said. 

“It was poisoned. We wondered how it was poisoned, but we did not find out in time and unfortunately it died. That bird was brought through by our area manager at Chivero.

“The next one came in two weeks ago with the same ailments and we knew that it was poisoning. We acted immediately, fed it, gave it Enthrapin to try and clear it and the bird survived. We put it into an aviary to make sure that it can fly again.”

Mr Stafford said their investigations as to why the birds were poisoned established that the local communities, when they are harvesting maize, put poison to kill the field mice.

He said after killing the mice, they take the intestines out and throw them away.

“The problem is the large amount of field mice that are consumed by other predators such as cats, owls, small hawks and the fish eagle,” said Mr Stafford. 

“The fish eagles do not just eat fish. They also eat mice and small birds, so the fish eagles have a popular food chain here. 

Mr Stafford said the problem was with people who were moving into the area with no consideration for environmental wildlife conservation.

He said the Lake Chivero community had become a threat to bird life as people were chopping down trees, fishing indiscriminately, eating everything they can find and doing agricultural practices that were not environmentally friendly.

“There are birds that are now extinct here through fishing practices,” said Mr Stafford. 

“The Lake has been oversubscribed with fishermen, some using netting, and birds like the dodo and the cormorants have disappeared completely now. The cormorants have become very rare.

“Those fishing nets are becoming more and more threatening and we have had fish eagles caught up in the fishing nets. We have had other small birds caught up in fishing nets as well, so bird life definitely is under threat in our community.”

Mr Stafford said bird life depended on the environment and if people could not take care of the environment they were posing a danger to bird life.

“The trees provide nesting places and habitation for the bird life, but if we allow people to continue chopping down the big trees for firewood, we are not helping the environment, so we have to protect the whole environment,” he said.

Mr Stafford said there was need to create an environmental task force to protect the Chivero area.

“We need to protect the trees that offer a home to the birds because a lot of birds breed in holes on trees,” he said.

Zimbabwe offers the best bird watching in the wet season from November to April.

At that time, migratory birds are present, and all species are in full breeding plumage. The scenery is lush and at its most beautiful, but that is not the best time for general wildlife viewing.

Of the 2 355 bird species recorded in Africa, 247 are threatened with extinction: 29 bird species are categorised as critically endangered, in imminent danger of extinction — according to Birdlife Africa.

Environmental experts say the country must strengthen its birdlife conservation strategies, raise awareness, conduct more research and monitoring work to save bird species that still survive on the natural habitats in Zimbabwe.

Without positive action on the ground, birds in Zimbabwe will soar into oblivion.