Death on wires: How power lines are killing Kenya's declining raptors

An electrocuted Marabou stock at a transformer located near Riadha house in Nairobi. [File, Standard]

High above Kenya’s plains, lakes and escarpments, birds of prey patrol the skies with remarkable precision. Eagles scan vast landscapes for movement, vultures circle silently above carcasses, while hawks and falcons dive through the air at astonishing speeds.

For centuries, these raptors have played a critical role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, acting as hunters, scavengers and natural regulators of wildlife populations.