Flying with Vultures #ConservatonTuesday

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Vultures face multiple man-made threats, including but not limited to poisoning, power line collisions and electrocutions, direct harvesting for cultural beliefs, and ever decreasing foraging ranges.  Some vulture species are threatened with possible extinction within our lifetime unless we can curb the ongoing downward spiral now!

Some populations have plummeted by over 90% in the past 30 years.

Vultures are scavenging birds of prey. A typical characteristic of most vultures is a bald head, devoid of normal feathers. Vultures are found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. There are 11 species of vultures in Africa, with the majority listed as endangered, such as the Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres), which has already been classified as extinct in Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Vultures clear up to 70% of Africa’s carrion and are extremely beneficial to humans, considerably reducing the spread of diseases, some of which can be fatal.

Although vultures are classified as birds of prey, they rarely kill other animals and are almost exclusively carrion eaters.  Vultures usually feed in large groups, often with other vulture species, each having their own individual role in the feeding. Vultures are vital for keeping the natural world in balance as they clear bodies that would otherwise rot and attract insects, that in turn transmit diseases to both livestock and humans.

Vultures are facing several threats, making their conservation a difficult task. Poisoning incidences are being regularly reported due to poison being left for pests, poachers lacing elephant or rhino carcasses to intentionally kill vultures (a single poisoned elephant carcass can result in hundreds of vulture’s deaths, wiping out an entire colony or local population), and anti-inflammatory drugs, used for livestock, which is lethal when ingested by vultures. In South Africa, power line electrocutions and collisions are the most prolific threats to vultures. Superstitious beliefs create a demand for the poaching of vultures and their parts, especially the head and feet.


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