Summer shines a light on the plight of vultures

Six year old ‘Summer’ was on holiday in St Ives in 2018 with her Mum and Dad and they decided to have a day out at nearby Paradise Park. This visit led her to becoming an inspired and passionate fan of the vulture family.

Mum Hayley emailed the Park in March 2019 “We loved our visit. A highlight that has stuck with our daughter was the free flying birds if prey talk, especially Tangee the vulture. Our daughter was so interested and moved by the vultures struggles and how you were raising money to save them, that she decided she wanted to raise money to save the vultures herself. She saved pocket money, sold dvds, made pictures to sell to family and we have held a number of cookie sales. All her own ideas. So far she has raised £75.05 (as of March 2019), her aim is raise £100. She would like to give the money to Paradise Park to donate to the vultures when we return on holiday in August 2019. From a very proud mum and dad and Summer a passionate vulture fan.”

Staff at Paradise Park were really moved to hear of Summer’s fundraising efforts.

Currator David Woolcock comments “Receiving this email was so special. What caught Summer’s attention was our talk during our ‘Eagles of Paradise’ Display which highlights various conservation issues and projects for a variety of species. Tangee, the Palm-nut Vulture is our ambassador for vultures, giving us an ideal opportunity to explain about the effects of vulture poisoning incidents, which are having a catastrophic effect on wildlife. We fundraising for International Vulture Programme , run by the Hawk Conservancy Trust. Their research has shown that the current level of impact will lead to vulture populations becoming extinct within decades. Just one incident can wipe out hundreds of animals, including lions, jackals, hyenas and hundreds of vultures and this inturn is having an effect on the local human populations.

To hear that Summer was inspired to raise money herself at home with some wonderful fundraising ideas was fantastic. We look forward to welcoming her and her family when she visits again this August. We plan a special event for her so she can meet some of the birds and get some photographs. In the meantime we have sent Summer a vulture t-shirt, colouring sheets, vulture soft toy and vulture badges as a thank you for her efforts and the brilliant work she is doing to help save vultures in the wild.”

Poisoning associated with ivory poaching is now the biggest cause of vulture mortality and it often relates directly to the illegal trade in wildlife. Ivory poachers poison and kill vultures because their presence above a poached carcass can attract the attention of law enfor cement agents.

In 2018 Paradise Park donated £4940 to the ‘Poison Response Action’ project which is a collaboration between The Hawk Conservancy Trust, Endangered Wildlife Trust and Reading University. This brings the total donated by Paradise Park to the International Vulture Programme from 2008 – 2018 to £17,600.

Find out more here Vulture Conservation Gets A Vital Boost

More information on the Tangee and the Palm-nut Vulture species here