Meet Dawn Griffard, the CEO of World Bird Sanctuary, the world's largest bird sanctuary specializing in raptors or birds of prey. Located outside of St. Louis, Missouri, this non-profit (501c3) organization is found on 305 acres of Missouri hardwood forest. On the grounds, you'll find aviaries housing birds from all over the world, educational bird shows, up close and personal bird encounters, natural trails, as well as picnic pavilions. The large outdoor avian exhibits provide housing for a variety of non-releasable birds and the on-site hospital helps to rehabilitate injured birds of prey. True to its mission, World Bird Sanctuary practices the following four pillars: Conservation, Rehabilitation, Education and Advocacy.
On todayâs episode, weâll be discussing Americaâs symbol of freedom, the bald eagle alongside the worldâs much needed cleaning crew, vultures. Youâll learn how World Bird Sanctuary helped to remove the bald eagle from the endangered species list. Youâll also discover the importance of vultures in our ecosystem and how 95-98% of the worldâs vulture population has been decimated, causing a catastrophic effect on world health. Without vultures, illnesses will run rampant and people will suffer from rabies, botulism, anthrax and other serious infectious diseases which can be deadly. You'll learn about India's first-hand experience with the loss of its vultures due to the use of diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory medication for its livestock. As a result, an astronomical outbreak of rabies consumed the nation, which costed the Indian government $30 billion. Moreover, you'll learn about major vulture population losses found in Europe, Africa and Asia.Â
In order to help with the vulture population crisis, World Bird Sanctuary recently formed a partnership with VulPro, an organization based in South Africa. We'll hear about Dawn's recent adventure out there and the valuable information she brought back to the United States. The collaboration between these two organizations will help to save the vulture, restore a healthy ecosystem and stabilize habitats across the world.
It is important to note that birds are indispensable. Dawn Griffard describes this in her own words: âThe loss of just one species can cause a domino effect, affecting entire habitats, and the animals and humans that live within. If we save the birds, we preserve the future.â Please take time to learn about these birds. By preserving them, we are preserving our own collective existence.
