But that proximity to people has cost the birds a great deal. Since they don\u2019t shy away from humans, they\u2019re easily caught \u2014 often with poisoned or tobacco-laced bait on a fishhook \u2014 and sold.<\/p>\n
In parts of Nigeria, people eat hooded vultures. But the greatest demand comes from belief-based users such as practitioners of Vod\u00fan, a traditional religion that gave rise in the Western Hemisphere to voodoo. Many believers hold that vultures have magical superpowers that can influence luck, act as harbingers of rain, or signify misfortune. They use powdered vulture parts to make soaps to wash, and some display dried vulture carcasses or heads in their homes to bring good fortune, wealth and protection against witchcraft. Others say the birds have medicinal properties.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no recent estimate on the demand, but somewhere between 5,800 and 8,700 birds were traded illegally<\/a> between 2008 and 2013 across West and Central Africa.<\/p>\n In 2019, this species was the victim of the world\u2019s biggest mass killing of vultures<\/a>. Nearly 2,000 hooded vultures<\/a> were killed for belief-based uses in Guinea-Bissau, a West African stronghold for these birds, using poisoned baits.<\/p>\n The birds are already threatened as their prey dwindles and their nest trees are felled for plantations or human settlements. Across the region, they\u2019re suffering alarming declines, with the species now listed as critically endangered<\/a> on the IUCN Red List, the highest threat category before extinction. Over the last three generations, their numbers have nosedived by about 80% across their range.<\/p>\n Darcy Ogada, Africa program director for the Peregrine Fund<\/a>, a raptor conservation NGO, calls the belief-based trade the \u201cbiggest threat\u201d hooded vultures face. \u201cA lot of these birds are being captured through poisoning,\u201d she says. \u201cI can\u2019t describe it any more than just a horror story.\u201d Ogada also serves as Africa chair for the Vulture Specialist Group<\/a> at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority.<\/p>\n In 2023, Nico Arcilla and her colleagues investigated the scale of the illegal trade in hooded vultures in southern Benin, where markets selling animal parts are plentiful. Abiola Sylvestre Chaffra, a member of the team who grew up near one of them, visited nine markets where he interviewed more than 150 vendors.<\/p>\n Speaking to them in their native tongue, he collected information on who sells vultures, where the birds come from, and which parts consumers want most. The findings are published<\/a> in the journal Bird Conservation International.<\/p>\n Chaffra counted 522 vultures for sale in these markets during the four-month study period. Most \u2014 383, about three-quarters \u2014 were dried bird carcasses; 90 heads were on offer; and about 10% were live birds.<\/p>\n Some people buy living birds for their parts \u2014 specifically the liver, heart, feathers or feet \u2014 and consume them to gain purported superpowers. The birds are also used in traditional medicine to treat various maladies,<\/a> including blurred vision, earaches, toothaches, anemia and infertility in women.<\/p>\n Belief-based trade in hooded vultures may have traditional roots, but it\u2019s grown from a small, local trade to an expanding regional commerce, researchers say. Just 10 years ago, somewhere between 975 and 1,462 hooded vultures were sold<\/a> each year in all of West Africa. Benin\u2019s current numbers indicate that\u2019s surging.<\/p>\n Part of that growth, researchers say, can be attributed to new beliefs. Some people are invoking Vod\u00fan practices \u2014 using hooded vultures \u2014 to increase their luck in the lottery or an election. Chaffra reported that nearly half of the buyers at the markets he investigated were businessmen and politicians seeking success and wealth, rather than people looking to ward off witchcraft.<\/p>\n Arcilla called the trade \u201cstaggering,\u201d adding that \u201cthe demand for fetish animals in Benin can drive them extinct.\u201d<\/p>\n As a slow-reproducing species \u2014 laying just one egg per year and then caring for the chick for nearly a year \u2014 hooded vultures can\u2019t easily recover from steep declines.<\/p>\n The price of hooded vulture parts in these markets ranged from 7,000 West African CFA francs for a head to as much as 500,000 CFA francs for a live bird, or about $12 to $884.<\/p>\n Chaffra learned that most vendors were witch doctors or fetish priests. All were Fon, the largest ethnic group in Benin, who widely practice Vod\u00fan, often entwined with Christianity and other religions. While nearly half of Benin\u2019s people identify as Christians, the government supports<\/a> Vod\u00fan, the country\u2019s official religion<\/a>, as its cultural heritage.<\/p>\n Vendors also shared information with Chaffra about the origins of the birds, which came from across West Africa. A quarter came from Benin; almost 60% came from Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Niger; and the rest were shipped from Cameroon, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Mali and Togo.<\/p>\n In addition to hooded vultures, Chaffra also found four other threatened vulture species displayed at the markets: the white-headed vulture<\/a> (Trigonoceps occipitalis), white-backed vulture<\/a> (Gyps africanus) and R\u00fcppell\u2019s griffon vulture<\/a> (Gyps rueppelli), all critically endangered, as well as the lappet-faced vulture<\/a> (Torgos tracheliotos), an endangered species. Previous studies have documented<\/a> at least 268 bird, 96 mammal and 59 reptile species in the Vod\u00fan trade, with vultures featuring prominently.<\/p>\n On-the-ground studies like this are relatively rare. Ogada, who wasn\u2019t involved in the study, said the findings highlight the scale of trade in these markets \u2014 crucial information that\u2019s often hard to get from non-English-speaking African countries and communities.<\/p>\n The impacts of the relentless trade are already visible. A 2024 field study<\/a> in Benin found just 52 hooded vultures after scanning nearly 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) of highway in areas that once had hundreds of these birds every 100 km (60 mi). The authors predicted that if the current trend continues, these vultures will vanish within the next two decades.<\/p>\n Ogada said the birds have already been extirpated from southern Benin. Arcilla recounted her experience of finding zero hooded vultures at a site in neighboring Togo where she once recorded nearly 60.<\/p>\n As \u201cnature\u2019s janitors\u201d vanish from the wild, their disappearance will have serious impacts. \u201cThey\u2019re critically important for the ecosystem, given their role in cleaning up carcasses, consuming organic waste,\u201d Ogada said. \u201cVultures are extremely specialized for what they do \u2026 in terms of being able to ingest microbes and other potentially harmful organisms that would maybe kill other birds or infect humans and livestock.\u201d Studies show<\/a> that carcasses take longer to rot without these natural scavengers, and disease-carrying flies multiply.<\/p>\n International trade in all six West African vulture species is legal under CITES, the international wildlife trade treaty, but quotas and permits are required.<\/p>\n Within Benin, it\u2019s illegal to hunt, capture, possess or trade vultures. Violators could be jailed for up to three years and fined up to 500,000 CFA francs ($883) \u2014 the price of a live bird uncovered in the recent study. Most vendors interviewed for the study said they knew selling vultures was illegal, yet did it anyway.<\/p>\n The trade is so lucrative that profits far outweigh the fines, and law enforcement in the country is weak, Arcilla said. \u201cThere\u2019s no political will\u201d to stop the trade, she said, because \u201ca lot of high-level politicians are involved in this sort of thing, and so it\u2019s completely against their interest to prosecute.\u201d<\/p>\n That needs to change, the researchers say. They suggest educating both the public and vendors about the vulture\u2019s precarious state. But Ogada said she worries it\u2019s already too late for that: The vultures could be gone before people realize the harm. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the time to go through generations of people and educate them.\u201d<\/p>\n As vulture populations rapidly disappear, researchers say the government should act and enforce its laws.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no future, to be honest, for hooded vultures right now in West Africa,\u201d Ogada said, \u201cunless something really dramatic is done.\u201d<\/p>\n Banner image: Hooded vultures are small, scruffy-faced vultures native to sub-Saharan Africa. Image by Florentin66 via Wikimedia Commons<\/a> (CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>).<\/p>\n Spoorthy Raman is a staff writer at Mongabay, covering all things wild with a special focus on lesser-known wildlife, the wildlife trade, and environmental crime.<\/p>\n Citations:<\/p>\n Buij, R., Nikolaus, G., Whytock, R., Ingram, D. J., & Ogada, D. (2015). Trade of threatened vultures and other raptors for fetish and bushmeat in West and Central Africa. Oryx, 50(4), 606-616. doi:10.1017\/s0030605315000514<\/a><\/p>\n Chaffra, A. S., Arcilla, N., Yabi, B. F., Lissagb\u00e9, H. M., Honfo, E. E., Hou\u00e9ssou, M. G., & Murgatroyd, M. (2025). Conservation implications of the illegal trade in Hooded Vultures Necrosyrtes monachus for belief-based use in Benin, West Africa. Bird Conservation International, 35. doi:10.1017\/s0959270925000073<\/a><\/p>\n Hounnouvi, F. E. K., Obandza-Ayessa, J., Gandaho, S. M., & Thompson, L. J. (2025). Cultural significance and conservation challenges of the hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) and other vulture species in northeastern Benin. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 21(51), doi:10.1186\/s13002-025-00806-z<\/a><\/p>\n Zanvo, S., Dognimon, S., Djagoun, C. A. M. S., Akpatch\u00e9m\u00e8, J., Azihou, A. F., Djossa, B., . . . Sinsin, B. (2024). Wildlife trade at the interface between deeply rooted animal-based traditional medicine and unregulated harvesting of wild animals in West Africa. Frontiers in Conservation Science, 5. doi:10.3389\/fcosc.2024.1481791<\/a><\/p>\n Dabon\u00e9, C., Adjakpa, J. B., Dansi, M. F., Thompson, L. J., Dissou, F. E., & Weesie, P. D. M. (2024). Hooded Vultures Necrosyrtes monachus are at risk of extinction in Benin: A result of poaching for belief\u2010based use and decreasing food availability. Ecology and Evolution, 14(4), e11184. doi:10.1002\/ece3.11184<\/a><\/p>\n Grootaers, J., Hern\u00e1ndez Campos, G., Marie Montenegro, V., Vega Quispe, R., Wicks, S., Campos Land\u00e1zuri, S., \u2026 Beirne, C. (2025). Vulture exclusion halves large carcass decomposition rates and doubles fly abundance. Ecology and Evolution, 15(5), e71408. doi:10.1002\/ece3.71408<\/a><\/p>\n FEEDBACK: Use this form<\/a> to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n More to explore:<\/p>\n Hooded vultures in Ghana and South Africa on the brink, study says<\/a><\/p>\n A nest with a chick brings rare hope for hooded vultures in South Africa<\/a><\/p>\n ![\"As](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2-Scavenge_Jimma_13209093575-768x512.jpg\")
As urban scavengers, hooded vultures are found in close proximity to human settlements, flying around slaughterhouses and landfills. Image by Rod Waddington via Wikimedia Commons<\/a> (CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>).
\n\u2018Staggering\u2019 trade in Benin\u2019s markets<\/p>\n![\"One](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3-WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-18-at-18.45.22-768x512.jpeg\")
One of the fetish markets in Benin selling animal parts that are believed to have magical powers. Image by Abiola Sylvestre Chaffra.
\nA widespread regional trade<\/p>\n![\"Hooded](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4-WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-18-at-18.36.48-1-768x512.jpeg\")
Hooded vulture heads sold in a fetish market in B\u00e9nin. Vulture heads are one of the most in-demand parts. Image by Abiola Sylvestre Chaffra.
\nVanishing vultures: An ecological concern<\/p>\n![\"As](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5-Vultures_Queue_Zebra_Head_Luangwa_Zambia_Jul23_A7R_06075-768x512.jpg\")
As nature\u2019s janitors, vultures clean up carcasses, eat harmful microbes, and prevent the spread of harmful diseases. Image by Timothy A. Gonsalves via Wikimedia Commons<\/a> (CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>).
\nIllegal trade needs to stop, conservationists say<\/p>\n![\"Hooded](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/6-Hooded-vultures-768x512.jpg\")
Hooded vultures are among the most threatened vultures in the world, \u00a0critically endangered due to belief-based trade, poisoning and habitat loss. Image \u00a9 lbarlas via iNaturalist<\/a> (CC BY-NC 4.0<\/a>).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774492329_276_92a8467a68ba6484f5372dc6c0c8580efd7d81cc823c1a1f46c9977026eb411e.png\")
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