Poison, persecution and people: why Kenya’s raptors are disappearing

Urgent action is needed, say conservationists, after report shows numbers of birds of prey in the country declining by as much as 95% over the past 40 years

Darcy Ogada rarely spots raptors from her home in central Kenya any more. The birds were once a common sight in the industrial town of Thika, 25 miles (40km) north of Nairobi, but the region's forests are rapidly declining, and the few remaining raptor populations face the added threats of poison and persecution.

It is a disaster," says Ogada, Every day I go out of the house and look into the sky, I am disappointed. I might see the extinction of these birds in my lifetime."