During our recent visit to the Dragon Mountains, the Drakensberg, and Ukhahlamba (barrier of Spears ) in Zulu, we recorded five species of vultures. After extensive planning and preparation to visit the Giants Castle Nature Reserve, specifically the Lammergeier Hide, we were very pleased with this haul. Unfortunately, no image of the Hooded Vulture was captured as we scanned for a Bearded Vulture in the crowd on a fresh Carcass of a still-born Calf. What a remarkable start to our Drakensberg experience, seeing over 100 vultures circling and landing to feed on this unfortunate calf.
Our List consisted of Vultures Seen:
Bearded Vulture (Giants Castle)
Cape Vulture (Golden Gate and Giants Castle)
Palm-nut Vulture (Durban Botanical Gardens)
White-backed Vulture (not common to this area, Giants Castle)
Hooded Vulture (not common to this area, Giants Castle)
Cape Vulture flying over the Vulture Hide at the Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Bearded Vulture, Lammergeier, Drakensberg, Critically Endanged, Maluti Drakensberg, Ezemvelo Wildlife Giants Castle, Giants Castle Park,
Palm-nut Vultures take to the sky and fly overhead; the two adult birds and a newly fledged Juvenile have created a considerable following among the birding fraternity. Durban Botanical Gardens, Image Alex Aitkenhead.
White-backed Vultures (Smaller and darker Vultures) and Cape Vultures on a Cow Carcass on our way to Giants Castle.
Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheresis)
Afrikaans: Kraansaasvoel
Endangered (EN)
Assessors: Reviewers:
Rationale (Changed due to Genuine (recent))
The regional population of Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheresis is classified as Endangered, having satisfied criterion A2: an observed, estimated, inferred or suspected population size reduction of ≥50% over the last 48 years (three-generation period) where the reduction or its causes may not have ceased and may not be reversible.
Distribution
The Cape Vulture has one of the most limited distributions of any Old World vulture species, restricted to southern Africa and predominantly South Africa and Lesotho (Mundy et al. 1992). The regional population is divided into three primary ‘nodes’, one each in the north-east (Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and Gauteng provinces), south-east (mainly in Lesotho and the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces extending marginally into adjacent parts of Free State Province and Swaziland) and south-west (Western Cape Province) of the region.
In the northeastern node are breeding colonies in Limpopo, North West, and Gauteng provinces (Benson et al. 1990, Benson 2004, Whittington-Jones et al. 2011). These colonies are characteristically relatively few in number but large, up to 1000 pairs (Benson et al. 1990, Mundy et al. 1992). The species no longer breeds in Mpumalanga Province (Herholdt et al. 1997).
Relevant to the southeastern node, in Lesotho, the species now breeds only in the highlands (Jilbert 1983, Donnay 1990, Maphisa 1997). In KwaZulu-Natal, breeding occurs mainly along the Drakensberg Escarpment and adjacent parts of the ‘Little Berg’, although breeding is now restricted primarily in the northern parts of this region (Brown and Piper 1988). Away from this area, the only remaining breeding localities in KwaZulu-Natal are a colony at Oribi Flats near Port Shepstone (Piper and Neethling 2002) and a site in the Greytown District that may only support a single remnant pair (SC Krüger, Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, unpubl. data). In Eastern Cape Province, the breeding range of the Cape Vulture has contracted to the eastern half of the province, mainly within or adjacent to the former Transkei region (Boshoff and Vernon 1980, Boshoff et al. 2009). In contrast to the position in the northeastern node, the southeastern node’s breeding colonies are characteristically numerous. Still, they are small in size, i.e. typically far fewer than 200 pairs (Mundy et al. 1992). The species no longer breeds in Free State Province, and the single possible remnant colony mentioned by Colahan (2004) as present in 1983 is no longer active (DG Allan unpubl. data).
The southwestern node in the Western Cape Province now encompasses only a single, fairly small and highly isolated breeding colony: Potberg, which supported 69 pairs in 2012 (Boshoff and Vernon 1980, Shaw 2004).
Outside the region, the species also occurs in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia and is a vagrant to Angola and Zambia (Mundy et al. 1997, Parker 1999, Bamford et al. 2007). Outside the region, it only breeds in Botswana (Borello and Borello 2002) and Mozambique, although the most recent published account of breeding at the single (and small) colony in the latter country dates to July 2002, when six incubating adults were observed (Monadjem 2003). The Cape Vulture is now extinct as a breeding species in Namibia (Simmons 2002) and does not currently breed at the single locality where they have bred in the past in Zimbabwe (Mundy 1997, Mundy et al. 1997).
Population
The most comprehensive estimate of Cape Vulture’s population size is contained in the unpublished PhD thesis of Piper (1994), who estimated the global population to be about 12,000 birds and 4,400 breeding pairs (i.e. 8 800 mature individuals). About 11,000 birds and 4,050 pairs (8,100 mature individuals) were claimed for the region (South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland). Piper (2004a, 2004b, 2005), however, presented revised global population estimates, for the years 2000 (in the first instance) and 2003 (in the second and third instances), of 8 000, 10 000 and 8 000 birds, and 3 000+ (in the first two instances) and 3 000 breeding pairs, respectively, but without presenting supporting details. Piper (2004a) suggested that the breeding population had decreased by about 15% between 1980 and 2000, i.e., 0.79% per year, but again, without supporting details. A 2013 update of the global estimate of the current number of breeding pairs provides very similar, but marginally more significant, numbers to those of Piper: 4 700 pairs (9 400 mature individuals) of which 4 400 pairs (8 800 mature individuals) occur in the region (BirdLife South Africa in prep.). The north-eastern node supports c. 56% of the regional breeding pairs, the south-eastern node 42% and the south-western node 2%. The regional population is estimated at 8,800 mature individuals. Confidence in this population estimate is high.
Population Trend
Comprehensive, regular, long-term monitoring of the total number of breeding pairs (i.e. mature individuals) at each Cape Vulture breeding colony in the region has not been achieved and would be logistically challenging. Therefore, the most feasible way to estimate the trend in Cape Vulture numbers would be to examine information from the relatively few breeding colonies monitored regularly over an adequate period (i.e. over three generations or 48 years; see below).
Unfortunately, only three Cape Vulture colonies have accurate count information extending this far back in time, i.e., about the mid-1960s, and all three are small to medium-sized colonies. Potberg (Western Cape) supported 32 pairs in 1965 and 69 in 2012, Aasvoelberg (near Zastron, Free State) had 41 pairs in 1965 but is now extinct as a breeding site, and Wilge River (Mpumalanga) had 12 pairs in 1962. Still, breeding also no longer occurs there (BirdLife South Africa in prep.).
A much larger sample of breeding colonies, 32 in total, was known in the 1960s, but accurate count information from this early time is not available for these (BirdLife South Africa in prep.). The provinces in which these additional sites are located are as follows (from north to south): Limpopo – 2 (extant), Mpumalanga – 1 (extinct), North West – 2 (one extant), Gauteng – 1 (extant), Free State – 2 (extinct), KwaZulu-Natal – 1 (extinct) and Eastern Cape – 23 (seven extant). Of these 32 localities, only 11 still support breeding pairs today.
This information from the total of 35 Cape Vulture breeding colonies known in the 1960s suggests a 66% decrease in the number of colonies between that period and currently, i.e. over three generations, and may infer a similar reduction in the total number of mature individuals. It should also be noted that Colahan and Esterhuizen (1997) document at least 32 breeding colonies as present in the Free State ‘around 1960′, all now extinct. Suppose this information is integrated with that above. In that case, the total regional number of known colonies in the 1960s rises to 64, of which 12 are extant (none in the Free State), i.e. an 81% reduction in colonies, and, by inference, the total number of mature individuals. This estimate is heavily biased towards colonies in the Free State, where the species has undergone a severe decrease and is likely not representative of the entire regional range. However, in the absence of suitable baseline data, it is suspected from the available data that the decrease in the regional population has been more significant than 50% over 48 years. Confidence in this regional population trend estimate is medium.
Threats
The primary threats to the Cape Vulture are contamination (and perhaps shortage) of their food supply, negative interactions with human infrastructure and their demand for use in the traditional health industry. Threats reducing adult survival, as is the case relevant to many of the dangers discussed below, are of particular concern, as the population stability of this species, which evidences a naturally low reproductive rate, likely depends on high adult survival rates.
Poisoning has been recognised for decades as a major threat to the Cape Vulture (Boshoff and Vernon 1980, Benson 2000, Verdoorn 2004). Documented instances and discussion of the problem in the literature are legitimate, as is the list of poisons used. Despite exhaustive efforts to publicise and counteract this, Cape Vultures are poisoned in large numbers and regularly (McKean 2004). The wide-ranging and communal foraging behaviour of Cape Vultures means that a tiny minority of humans employing poisons, operating at only a local scale, have the potential to impact a large proportion of the regional vulture population significantly (Boshoff and Vernon 1980).
Poisoning appears mainly incidental and a byproduct of targeting mammalian predators. The use of most of these poisons is illegal, as is the lacing of large carcasses with any poison. Some of these poisons have now been outlawed and removed from the marketplace, but extensive stockpiles likely exist in some quarters (Boshoff and Currie 1981, Scott 1994, Wysoke et al. 1994, Scott 1997a, Verdoorn 1997b, Scott 1997c, Shaw 2004, Naidoo et al. 2011). Sub-lethal doses of poisoning can cause mortality through birds perched on cliffs suffering seizures and falling from the ledges (Benson 2000). Nestlings are known to have been poisoned by their parents feeding them poisoned meat (Benson 2000).
Poisoning can also be intentional and explicitly targeted at vultures if the birds are perceived as a threat to livestock, purveyors of disease and plagues, or related to some nuisance factor (Boshoff and Vernon 1979, 1980, Mundy 1983, Boshoff 1989, Pringle 1990, Mundy et al. 1992, Snyman and Snyman 1997, Scott 1997a, Anderson 2000f). Lead poisoning through ingesting lead bullets and bullet fragments in carcasses is a further potential threat (Boshoff et al. 2009) and one that has been confirmed in other vulture species (Adaudi et al. 1990, Mateo et al. 1997, Platt et al. 1999, Miller et al. 2000, Clark and Scheuhammer 2003, Mateo et al. 2003, Garcia-Fernandez et al. 2005, Pattee et al. 2006).
Electrocution by electrical infrastructure is another major source of mortality, and this threat dates back to at least 1948 (Markus 1972, Ledger and Annegarn 1981, van Rooyen 2000, Kruger et al. 2004). An additional major threat from electrical infrastructure is collisions with overhead lines by flying vultures (Naidoo et al. 2011). Collisions with other overhead lines are another problem (Benson and Dobbs 1984, Benson 2000, 2004). Cape Vultures also sporadically collide with fences, including at supplementary feeding sites (Benson and Dobbs 1984; Piper 2004a). Alongside nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIs), wind farms rank prominently among potentially significant threats to the Cape Vulture (Rushworth and Krüger 2013). Harvesting vultures for traditional medicine is widespread and could materially contribute to hastening extinction (Mundy 1983, Beilis and Esterhuizen 2006, Mander et al. 2007, McKean et al. 2013).
Food shortage is widely cited as a significant threat (Boshoff and Vernon 1980, Benson 1997, Maphisa 1997, Benson 2000, Benson et al. 2004), but direct evidence is sparse. Past decreases in the numbers of Cape Vultures have also been related to eradicating the ancestral game herds in the region (Boshoff and Vernon 1980). It has been demonstrated that dense tree cover can retard the location and access of carcasses by Cape Vultures. Therefore, bush encroachment could pose an indirect threat to the species (Schultz 2007, Bamford et al. 2009).
Another cause of mortality in Cape Vultures is drowning in circular, concrete farm reservoirs, particularly in the drier western parts of the region (Anderson et al. 1999). Disturbance of Cape Vultures at their cliff nesting colonies can potentially result in lower breeding success and even complete desertion of such sites (Benson and Dobbs 1985, Verdoorn 1992, Borello and Borello 2002). Aircraft flying close to colonies, including micro-light aircraft and hang-gliders, constitutes another potential source of disturbance (Robertson 1989, Verdoorn 1997a, Scott 1997b), but the significance of this requires confirmation.
Fires at breeding colonies may (Ledger and Mundy 1975) or may not (Verdoorn and Becker 1992, Scott 1997b) present a danger to breeding birds but is likely to be a fairly minor threat as these rarely (if ever) reach actual nest sites. Anthropogenically driven climate change, essentially increased ambient temperatures, has been proposed as a potential threat to the Cape Vulture (Simmons and Jenkins 2007).
Conservation
Underway
The Vulture Study Group, established in 1977 and with an African, and mainly southern Africa, focus, was primarily formed based on concern for the survival of the Cape Vulture (Mundy et al. 1992). This group is now essentially subsumed into the broader Bird of Prey Programme of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, with the work on this species synchronised by a Cape Vulture Task Force formed in 2006. VulPro is involved in several vulture conservation initiatives, with the Cape Vulture as the organisation’s primary focal species. Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, the provincial nature conservation authority in that province, initiated a Cliff-nesting Vulture Survey project in 2000.
The IUCN Vulture Specialist Group, formed in 2011, is a recently established global organisation. Vulture News, a journal initiated in 1979 by the Vulture Study Group and dedicated to publishing information on vulture research and conservation efforts, is now the journal of the IUCN Vulture Specialist Group.
Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife initiated annual Vulture Count Days on International Vulture Awareness Day in 2003. A workshop in 2006 resulted in a formal conservation plan for the Cape Vulture (Boshoff and Anderson 2006) to stabilise the Cape Vulture population. Reviews of this plan were made in 2010 and 2012. Conservation plans for the species have also been produced for the Western Cape Province, covering the Potberg colony (Boshoff and Robertson 1985; Scott 1997). A vulture conservation strategy for KwaZulu-Natal covering the 5 years 2008-2012 and including the Cape Vulture has been produced (Rushworth 2008).
A ‘Poison Working Group’ of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, established in 1991 and subsequently subsumed into a Wildlife Conflict Prevention Programme, worked to combat poisoning in the Cape Vulture (Verdoorn 1997). Unfortunately, this group became defunct in 2012 due to funding shortages. The Wildlife and Energy Programme of the Endangered Wildlife Trust is targeted at minimising the risk to wildlife posed by energy and communications infrastructure, including the dangers to large birds such as the Cape Vulture stemming from electrocution by, and collisions with, such infrastructure (van Rooyen and Piper 1997, Jenkins et al. 2010). BirdLife South Africa and the Endangered Wildlife Trust are active in bird conservation issues related to the fledgling wind-energy industry in the region, primarily co-ordinated through a Bird and Wind Energy Specialist Group, which the two organisations co-chair. The rescue, rehabilitation and release by recognised rehabilitation facilities of vultures temporarily incapacitated by the various threats faced by the species is an increasingly important conservation measure (Snyman and Snyman 1997, Verdoorn et al. 1997, Verrynne 1997, Naidoo et al. 2011, Monadjem et al. 2013). Key facilities recently involved in such rehabilitation work include VulPro (North West Province), De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust (Gauteng), National Zoological Gardens of South Africa (Gauteng) and the African Bird of Prey Sanctuary (KwaZulu-Natal).
Proposed
Similar to the position relevant to research questions, the proceedings of the vulture research and conservation workshop held in 1997 (Boshoff et al. 1997) also identify a wide range of direct conservation actions and priorities about vultures, including the Cape Vulture, many of which remain equally relevant. These include addressing the threats stemming from poisoning, energy-related infrastructure, the traditional health industry, food shortages, drowning, disturbance, and negative perceptions and ignorance. The proceedings also call for intensified monitoring of Cape Vulture breeding colonies and roosts.
The proceedings from a follow-up workshop in 2004 (Monadjem et al. 2004) contain a concluding paper (Boshoff 2004) reviewing progress on conservation research and action since the 1997 workshop. This paper and Boshoff and Anderson (2006) lament the lack of overarching and strategic planning and the absence of priority setting relevant to vulture conservation and research initiatives, including those applying to the Cape Vulture. The ‘Site Register’, initiated by the Vulture Study Group, is currently curated by the Birds of Prey Programme and this information, especially that related to breeding sites, should be integrated with other similar unpublished and published data and be published as a comprehensive monograph as a matter of high priority.
The scourge of poisoning must be combatted by the rigorous investigation and prosecution of all such instances and the maintenance of ongoing and high-profile education and publicity campaigns emphasising the causes and consequences of such incidents. The legal penalties need to be severe enough to act as material deterrents. A move to lead-free ammunition should be considered where relevant. Careful monitoring of the potential use of diclofenac and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIs) lethal to Gyps vultures is required.
Additional effort is required to reduce the electrocutions and collisions of Cape Vultures with power-line infrastructure (Boshoff and Michael 2009, Boshoff et al.. 2011). Existing pylons and overhead lines need to be replaced or retrofitted on a carefully prioritised basis. New infrastructure must be designed and routed to minimise the risks of electrocution and collisions. As wind farms spread across the region’s landscapes, particular care will be required in the immediate future to ensure that this industry does not pose a significant threat to the Cape Vulture.
Relevant to the trade in Cape Vulture body parts in the traditional health industry, Mander et al. (2007) call for an intervention strategy to be developed that addresses the following primary areas of action: a) reduce consumption/demand for vultures through an awareness-building campaign targeting public consumers and current roleplayers in the trade; b) change/create policy to improve regulation of the vulture trade; c) improve policing and enforcement for better regulation of the vulture trade; d) improve understanding of the vulture trade to allow more focused interventions, including research and monitoring of the use and trade of vultures.
Firm steps must be maintained to confirm that the food provided at ‘vulture restaurants’ is free from toxins harmful to the birds. Similar ongoing action is required to control the dangers from human disturbance at colonies. Finally, compiling a Biodiversity Management Plan covering the species, as envisioned by the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004), is an urgent priority (Webster 2012).
Research
* Regular, accurate, ongoing censuses of all large breeding colonies, and as many of the smaller ones as feasible, is a high priority. A Cape Vulture breeding colony conservation and monitoring protocol document outlines colony-census methodology (Wolter et al. 2011).
* Ringing, wing-tagging and tracking using satellite and GSM tracking devices can greatly facilitate gathering information on vulture mortalities. Information on live vultures found incapacitated, especially those taken to rehabilitation centres, is also invaluable concerning factors involved in mortalities (Monadjem et al. 2013).
* In-depth knowledge of Cape vultures’ movement patterns is indispensable for their conservation. Following on from early radio-tracking investigations (Boshoff et al. 1984, Benson 2004), recent advances in tracking technologies, i.e. satellite and GSM tracking, are revolutionising this sphere of investigation (Diekmann et al. 2004, Bamford et al. 2007, Bartels et al. 2007).
* New studies are urgently required to examine the spatial and temporal patterns and trends in the availability of carrion within the Cape Vulture’s core range.
* The issue of potential lead poisoning through bullets lodged in carcasses requires urgent investigation.
* Further investigation of the potential toxicity of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and other pharmaceutical drugs used in the veterinary industry is necessary.
* Relevant to collisions, additional research is required to understand factors associated with the highest risks and the efficacy of line-marking devices.
* The issue of potential food shortage requires investigation, especially regarding the necessity for establishing supplementary feeding stations.
Endangered (EN)
A2a
Assessors: Reviewers:
Rationale (Changed due to Genuine (recent))
The regional population of Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheresis is classified as Endangered, having satisfied criterion A2: an observed, estimated, inferred or suspected population size reduction of ≥50% over the last 48 years (three-generation period) where the reduction or its causes may not have ceased and may not be reversible.
Distribution
The Cape Vulture has one of the most limited distributions of any Old World vulture species, restricted to southern Africa and predominantly South Africa and Lesotho (Mundy et al. 1992). The regional population is divided into three primary ‘nodes’, one each in the north-east (Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and Gauteng provinces), south-east (mainly in Lesotho and the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces, extending marginally into adjacent parts of Free State Province and Swaziland) and south-west (Western Cape Province) of the region.
The northeastern node has breeding colonies in Limpopo, North West, and Gauteng provinces (Benson et al. 1990, Benson 2004, Whittington-Jones et al. 2011). These colonies are characteristically relatively few in number but large in size, up to 1000 pairs (Benson et al. 1990, Mundy et al. 1992). The species no longer breeds in Mpumalanga Province (Herholdt et al. 1997).
Relevant to the southeastern node, in Lesotho, the species now breeds only in the highlands (Jilbert 1983, Donnay 1990, Maphisa 1997). In KwaZulu-Natal, breeding occurs mainly along the Drakensberg Escarpment and adjacent parts of the ‘Little Berg’, although breeding is now primarily restricted to the northern parts of this region (Brown and Piper 1988). Away from this area, the only remaining breeding localities in KwaZulu-Natal are a colony at Oribi Flats near Port Shepstone (Piper and Neethling 2002) and a site in the Greytown District that may only support a single remnant pair (SC Krüger, Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, unpubl. data). In Eastern Cape Province, the breeding range of the Cape Vulture has contracted to the eastern half of the province, largely within or adjacent to the former Transkei region (Boshoff and Vernon 1980, Boshoff et al. 2009). In contrast to the position in the northeastern node, the southeastern node’s breeding colonies are characteristically numerous. Still, they are small in size, i.e. typically far fewer than 200 pairs (Mundy et al. 1992). The species no longer breeds in Free State Province, and the single possible remnant colony mentioned by Colahan (2004) as present in 1983 is no longer active (DG Allan unpubl. data).
The southwestern node in the Western Cape Province now encompasses only a single, fairly small and highly isolated breeding colony: Potberg, which supported 69 pairs in 2012 (Boshoff and Vernon 1980, Shaw 2004).
Outside the region, the species also occurs in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia and is a vagrant to Angola and Zambia (Mundy et al. 1997, Parker 1999, Bamford et al. 2007). Outside the region, it only breeds in Botswana (Borello and Borello 2002) and Mozambique, although the most recent published account of breeding at the single (and small) colony in the latter country dates to July 2002, when six incubating adults were observed (Monadjem 2003). The Cape Vulture is now extinct as a breeding species in Namibia (Simmons 2002) and does not currently breed at the single locality where they have bred in the past in Zimbabwe (Mundy 1997, Mundy et al. 1997).
Population
The most comprehensive estimate of Cape Vulture’s population size is contained in the unpublished PhD thesis of Piper (1994), who estimated the global population to be about 12,000 birds and 4,400 breeding pairs (i.e. 8 800 mature individuals). About 11,000 birds and 4,050 pairs (8,100 mature individuals) were claimed for the region (South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland). Piper (2004a, 2004b, 2005), however, presented revised global population estimates, for the years 2000 (in the first instance) and 2003 (in the second and third instances), of 8 000, 10 000 and 8 000 birds, and 3 000+ (in the first two instances) and 3 000 breeding pairs, respectively, but without presenting supporting details. Piper (2004a) suggested that the breeding population had decreased by about 15% between 1980 and 2000, i.e., 0.79% per year, but again, without supporting details. A 2013 update of the global estimate of the current number of breeding pairs provides very similar, but marginally more significant, numbers to those of Piper: 4 700 pairs (9 400 mature individuals) of which 4 400 pairs (8 800 mature individuals) occur in the region (BirdLife South Africa in prep.). The north-eastern node supports c. 56% of the regional breeding pairs, the south-eastern node 42% and the south-western node 2%. The regional population is estimated at 8,800 mature individuals. Confidence in this population estimate is high.
Population Trend
Comprehensive, regular, long-term monitoring of the total number of breeding pairs (i.e. mature individuals) at every Cape Vulture breeding colony in the region has not been achieved and would be logistically challenging. Therefore, the most feasible way to estimate the trend in Cape Vulture numbers would be to examine information from the relatively few breeding colonies monitored regularly over an adequate time (i.e. over three generations or 48 years).
Unfortunately, only three Cape Vulture colonies have accurate count information extending this far back in time, i.e., about the mid-1960s, and all three are small to medium-sized colonies. Potberg (Western Cape) supported 32 pairs in 1965 and 69 in 2012, Aasvoelberg (near Zastron, Free State) had 41 pairs in 1965 but is now extinct as a breeding site, and Wilge River (Mpumalanga) had 12 pairs in 1962. Still, breeding also no longer occurs there (BirdLife South Africa in prep.).
A much larger sample of breeding colonies, 32 in total, was known in the 1960s. Still, accurate count information from this early period is unavailable for these (BirdLife South Africa in prep.). The provinces in which these additional sites are located are as follows (from north to south): Limpopo – 2 (extant), Mpumalanga – 1 (extinct), North West – 2 (one extant), Gauteng – 1 (extant), Free State – 2 (extinct), KwaZulu-Natal – 1 (extinct) and Eastern Cape – 23 (seven extant). Of these 32 localities, only 11 still support breeding pairs today.
This information from the total of 35 Cape Vulture breeding colonies known in the 1960s suggests a 66% decrease in the number of colonies between that period and currently, i.e. over three generations, and may infer a similar reduction in the total number of mature individuals. It should also be noted that Colahan and Esterhuizen (1997) document at least 32 breeding colonies as present in the Free State ‘around 1960′, all now extinct. Suppose this information is integrated with that above. In that case, the total regional number of known colonies in the 1960s rises to 64, of which 12 are extant (none in the Free State), i.e. an 81% reduction in colonies, and, by inference, the total number of mature individuals. This estimate is heavily biased towards colonies in Free State, where the species has undergone a particularly severe decrease and likely not representative of the entire regional range. However, in the absence of suitable baseline data, it is suspected from the available data that the decrease in the regional population has been more significant than 50% over 48 years. Confidence in this regional population trend estimate is medium.
Threats
The primary threats to the Cape Vulture are contamination (and perhaps shortage) of their food supply, negative interactions with human infrastructure and their demand for use in the traditional health industry. Threats reducing adult survival, as is the case relevant to many of the dangers discussed below, are of particular concern, as the population stability of this species, which evidences a naturally low reproductive rate, likely depends on high adult survival rates.
Poisoning has been recognised for decades as a major threat to the Cape Vulture (Boshoff and Vernon 1980, Benson 2000, Verdoorn 2004). Documented instances and discussion of the problem in the literature are legitimate, as is the list of poisons used. Despite exhaustive efforts to publicise and counteract this, Cape Vultures are poisoned in large numbers and regularly (McKean 2004). The wide-ranging and communal foraging behaviour of Cape Vultures means that a tiny minority of humans employing poisons, operating at only a local scale, have the potential to impact a large proportion of the regional vulture population significantly (Boshoff and Vernon 1980).
Poisoning appears mainly incidental and a byproduct of targeting mammalian predators. The use of most of these poisons is illegal, as is the lacing of large carcasses with any poison. Some of these poisons have now been outlawed and removed from the marketplace but extensive stockpiles likely exist in some quarters (Boshoff and Currie 1981, Scott 1994, Wysoke et al. 1994, Scott 1997a, Verdoorn 1997b, Scott 1997c, Shaw 2004, Naidoo et al. 2011). Sub-lethal doses of poisoning can cause mortality through birds perched on cliffs suffering seizures and falling from the ledges (Benson 2000). Nestlings are known to have been poisoned by their parents feeding them poisoned meat (Benson 2000).
Poisoning can also be intentional and targeted specifically at vultures if the birds are perceived as a threat to livestock, purveyors of disease and plagues, or related to some nuisance factor (Boshoff and Vernon 1979, 1980, Mundy 1983, Boshoff 1989, Pringle 1990, Mundy et al. 1992, Snyman and Snyman 1997, Scott 1997a, Anderson 2000f). Lead poisoning through ingesting lead bullets and bullet fragments in carcasses is a further potential threat (Boshoff et al. 2009) and one that has been confirmed in other vulture species (Adaudi et al. 1990, Mateo et al. 1997, Platt et al. 1999, Miller et al. 2000, Clark and Scheuhammer 2003, Mateo et al. 2003, Garcia-Fernandez et al. 2005, Pattee et al. 2006).
Electrocution by electrical infrastructure is another primary source of mortality, and this threat dates back to at least 1948 (Markus 1972, Ledger and Annegarn 1981, van Rooyen 2000, Kruger et al. 2004). An additional major threat emanating from electrical infrastructure is collisions with overhead lines by flying vultures (Naidoo et al. 2011). Collisions with other overhead lines are another problem (Benson and Dobbs 1984, Benson 2000, 2004). Cape Vultures also sporadically collide with fences, including at supplementary feeding sites (Benson and Dobbs 1984; Piper 2004a). Alongside nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIs), wind farms rank prominently among potentially significant threats to the Cape Vulture (Rushworth and Krüger 2013). Harvesting vultures for traditional medicine is a widespread practice and could materially contribute to hastening extinction (Mundy 1983, Beilis and Esterhuizen 2006, Mander et al. 2007, McKean et al. 2013).
Food shortage is widely cited as a significant threat (Boshoff and Vernon 1980, Benson 1997, Maphisa 1997, Benson 2000, Benson et al. 2004), but direct evidence is sparse. Past decreases in the numbers of Cape Vultures have also been related to eradicating the ancestral game herds in the region (Boshoff and Vernon 1980). It has been demonstrated that dense tree cover can retard the location and access of carcasses by Cape Vultures. Therefore, bush encroachment could potentially pose an indirect threat to the species (Schultz 2007, Bamford et al. 2009).
Another cause of mortality in Cape Vultures is drowning in circular, concrete farm reservoirs, particularly in the drier western parts of the region (Anderson et al. 1999). Disturbance of Cape Vultures at their cliff nesting colonies can potentially result in lower breeding success and even complete desertion of such sites (Benson and Dobbs 1985, Verdoorn 1992, Borello and Borello 2002). Aircraft flying near colonies, including micro-light aircraft and hang-gliders, constitutes another potential source of disturbance (Robertson 1989, Verdoorn 1997a, Scott 1997b), but this significance requires confirmation.
Fires at breeding colonies may (Ledger and Mundy 1975) or may not (Verdoorn and Becker 1992, Scott 1997b) present a danger to breeding birds but are likely to be a fairly minor threat as these rarely (if ever) reach actual nest sites. Anthropogenically driven climate change, essentially increased ambient temperatures, has been proposed as a potential threat to the Cape Vulture (Simmons and Jenkins 2007).
Conservation Underway
The Vulture Study Group, established in 1977 and with an African, and mainly southern Africa, focus, was primarily formed based on concern for the survival of the Cape Vulture (Mundy et al. 1992). This group is now essentially subsumed into the broader Bird of Prey Programme of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, with the work on this species synchronised by a Cape Vulture Task Force formed in 2006. VulPro is involved in several vulture conservation initiatives, with the Cape Vulture as the organisation’s primary focal species. Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, the provincial nature conservation authority in that province, initiated a Cliff-nesting Vulture Survey project in 2000.
The IUCN Vulture Specialist Group, formed in 2011, is a recently established global organisation. Vulture News, a journal initiated in 1979 by the Vulture Study Group and dedicated to publishing information on vulture research and conservation efforts, is now the journal of the IUCN Vulture Specialist Group.
Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife initiated annual Vulture Count Days on International Vulture Awareness Day 2003. A workshop in 2006 resulted in a formal conservation plan for the Cape Vulture (Boshoff and Anderson 2006) intending to stabilise the Cape Vulture population. Reviews to this plan were made in 2010 and 2012. Conservation plans for the species have also been produced for the Western Cape Province, covering the Potberg colony (Boshoff and Robertson 1985; Scott 1997). A vulture conservation strategy for KwaZulu-Natal covering the 5 years 2008-2012 and including the Cape Vulture has been produced (Rushworth 2008).
A ‘Poison Working Group’ of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, established in 1991 and subsequently subsumed into a Wildlife Conflict Prevention Programme, worked to combat poisoning in the Cape Vulture (Verdoorn 1997). Unfortunately, this group became defunct in 2012 due to funding shortages. The Wildlife and Energy Programme of the Endangered Wildlife Trust is targeted at minimising the risk to wildlife posed by energy and communications infrastructure, including the dangers to large birds such as the Cape Vulture stemming from electrocution by, and collisions with, such infrastructure (van Rooyen and Piper 1997, Jenkins et al. 2010). BirdLife South Africa and the Endangered Wildlife Trust are active in bird conservation issues related to the fledgling wind-energy industry in the region, primarily co-ordinated through a Bird and Wind Energy Specialist Group, which the two organisations co-chair. The rescue, rehabilitation and release by recognised rehabilitation facilities of vultures temporarily incapacitated by the various threats faced by the species is an increasingly important conservation measure (Snyman and Snyman 1997, Verdoorn et al. 1997, Verrynne 1997, Naidoo et al. 2011, Monadjem et al. 2013). Key facilities recently involved in such rehabilitation work include VulPro (North West Province), De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust (Gauteng), National Zoological Gardens of South Africa (Gauteng) and the African Bird of Prey Sanctuary (KwaZulu-Natal).
Proposed
Similar to the position relevant to research questions, the proceedings of the vulture research and conservation workshop held in 1997 (Boshoff et al. 1997) also identify a wide range of direct conservation actions and priorities about vultures, including the Cape Vulture, many of which remain equally relevant. These include addressing the threats stemming from poisoning, energy-related infrastructure, the traditional health industry, food shortages, drowning, disturbance, and negative perceptions and ignorance. The proceedings also call for intensified monitoring of Cape Vulture breeding colonies and roosts.
The proceedings from a follow-up workshop in 2004 (Monadjem et al. 2004) contain a concluding paper (Boshoff 2004) reviewing progress on conservation research and action since the 1997 workshop. This paper and Boshoff and Anderson (2006) lament the lack of overarching and strategic planning and the absence of priority setting relevant to vulture conservation and research initiatives, including those applying to the Cape Vulture. The ‘Site Register’, initiated by the Vulture Study Group, is currently curated by the Birds of Prey Programme and this information, especially that related to breeding sites, should be integrated with other similar unpublished and published data and be published as a comprehensive monograph as a matter of high priority.
The scourge of poisoning must be combatted by the rigorous investigation and prosecution of all such instances and the maintenance of ongoing and high-profile education and publicity campaigns emphasising the causes and consequences of such incidents. The legal penalties need to be severe enough to act as material deterrents. A move to lead-free ammunition should be considered where relevant. Careful monitoring of the potential use of diclofenac and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIs) lethal to Gyps vultures is required.
Additional effort is required to reduce the electrocutions and collisions of Cape Vultures with power-line infrastructure (Boshoff and Michael 2009, Boshoff et al.. 2011). Existing pylons and overhead lines need to be replaced or retrofitted on a carefully prioritised basis. New infrastructure needs to be designed and routed to minimise the risks of electrocution and collisions. As wind farms spread across the region’s landscapes, particular care will be required in the immediate future to ensure that this industry does not pose a significant threat to the Cape Vulture.
Relevant to the trade in Cape Vulture body parts in the traditional health industry, Mander et al. (2007) call for an intervention strategy to be developed that addresses the following primary areas of action: a) reduce consumption/demand for vultures through an awareness-building campaign targeting public consumers and current roleplayers in the trade; b) change/create policy to improve regulation of the vulture trade; c) improve policing and enforcement for better regulation of the vulture trade; d) improve understanding of the vulture trade to allow more focused interventions, including research and monitoring of the use and trade of vultures.
Firm steps must be maintained to confirm that the food provided at ‘vulture restaurants’ is free from toxins harmful to the birds. Similar ongoing action is required to control the dangers from human disturbance at colonies. Finally, compiling a Biodiversity Management Plan covering the species, as envisioned by the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004), is an urgent priority (Webster 2012).
Research
* Regular, accurate, ongoing censuses of all large breeding colonies, and as many of the smaller ones as feasible, is a high priority. A Cape Vulture breeding colony conservation and monitoring protocol document outlines colony-census methodology (Wolter et al. 2011).
* Ringing, wing-tagging and tracking using satellite and GSM tracking devices can significantly facilitate gathering information on vulture mortalities. Information on live vultures found incapacitated, especially those taken to rehabilitation centres, is also invaluable concerning factors involved in mortalities (Monadjem et al. 2013).
* In-depth knowledge of Cape vultures’ movement patterns is indispensable for their conservation. Following on from early radio-tracking investigations (Boshoff et al. 1984, Benson 2004), recent advances in tracking technologies, i.e. satellite and GSM tracking, are revolutionising this sphere of investigation (Diekmann et al. 2004, Bamford et al. 2007, Bartels et al. 2007).
* New studies are urgently required to examine the spatial and temporal patterns and trends in the availability of carrion within the Cape Vulture’s core range.
* The issue of potential lead poisoning through bullets lodged in carcasses requires urgent investigation.
* Further investigation of the potential toxicity of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and other pharmaceutical drugs used in the veterinary industry is necessary.
* Relevant to collisions, additional research is required to understand factors associated with the highest risks and the efficacy of line-marking devices.
* The issue of potential food shortage requires investigation, especially regarding the necessity for establishing supplementary feeding stations.
Palm-nut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis) Afrikaans: Witaasvoel
Source: Wikipedia
The palm-nut vulture (Gypohierax angolensis) or vulturine fish eagle is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae(which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers, vultures, and eagles). It is the only member of the genus Gypohierax.
This bird is an Old World vulture (only distantly related to the New World vultures in a separate family, the Cathartidae).
It breeds in forests and savannahs across sub-Saharan Africa, usually near water. Its range coincides with that of the oil and Raffia palms. Like many African vultures, it is quite approachable and can be seen near habitation, even on large hotel lawns in the tourist areas of countries such as the Gambia.
Taxonomy
The palm-nut vulture was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus‘s Systema Naturae. He placed it with the eagles, hawks and falcons in the genus Falco and coined the binomial name Falco angolensis.[2] Gmelin based his description on the “Angola vulture” described in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work A General Synopsis of Birds. The Leverian Collection in London included two specimens collected in Angola.[3] The palm-nut vulture is now placed in the genus Gypohierax, which was introduced for the species in 1836 by the German naturalist Eduard Rüppell.[4][5] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek gups meaning “vulture” with hierax meaning “hawk”.[6] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[5]
Description
This is a nearly unmistakable bird as an adult. At 1.3–1.7 kg (2.9–3.7 lb) in weight, 60 cm (2.0 ft) in length and with a wingspan of 1.50 m (4.9 ft), this is the smallest Old World vulture.[7][8] Its plumage is all white except for black areas in its wings and tail. It has a red patch around each eye. The juvenile, which takes 3–4 years to mature, is brown with yellow eye patches. In flight, this species resembles an eagle more than a typical vulture, and it can sustain flapping flight, so it does not depend on thermals. With its extensive white plumage and black wing and tail feathers, the adult palm-nut vulture can be crudely mistaken for both the African fish-eagle and the Egyptian vulture, but it lacks the former’s chestnut body and the latter’s white tail.[9][failed verification]
The sexes are identical in appearance, with the female being the same size as the male. Juveniles, on the other hand, are predominately brown with partially black wings and take a lengthy three to four years to make the transition into the adult plumage.[10]
Distribution and habitat
Palm-nut vultures are found throughout most of the coastal areas of the African continent from The Gambia to Kenya and as far South as South Africa.[10] The total African population is estimated to be 80,000 pairs.[11]There are approximately 40 birds in South Africa.
South Africa and Mozambique are the only Southern African subregions with resident breeding pairs of palm-nut vultures. The breeding distribution of the palm-nut vulture during the 1970s census period was centred on the Raffia palm groves of the Kosi Bay system and Mtunzini. Its distribution is linked to the presence of the Raffia palm Raphia australis at all permanently occupied sites, and the existence of this species at Mtunzini is entirely due to the artificial cultivation of Raffia palms.[12] There are 7 known nesting sites in South Africa and 40 individual birds.
As the name suggests, the distribution of the palm-nut vulture closely tracks that of oil (Elaeis guineensis) or raffia (Raphia sp.) palms. Consequently, it is most common in coastal forests and mangrove swamps below 1,500 m (4,900 ft), but it is also in wet savannas.[10]
Behaviour and ecology
Food and feeding
Unusual for birds of prey, the palm-nut vulture feeds mainly on the fleshy fruit-husks of the oil palm and the palm-fruits of Raffia palms, as well as wild dates, oranges, other fruits, some grains and acacia seeds.[13][14] These fruits comprise over 60% of the adult bird’s diet and over 90% of the juvenile bird’s diet.[10] It has also been recorded to feed on crabs (both freshwater and marine), molluscs, frogs, tadpoles, fish, dung beetles, termites, alate ants, alate termites, locusts, small mammals, birds and their nestlings, snakes, other reptiles, even reptiles’ eggs and hatchlings, and it has been known to attack domestic poultry and feed on carrion occasionally.[13][14][15][16][17][18]
Breeding
Breeding pairs construct large stick nests high up in tall trees, often attaching firmly to the nest site. They may stay at the nesting site for an entire year. Where Raphia Palms are present, breeding pairs will build a nest at the base of the palm fronds. At the beginning of the breeding season, pairs soar together in an aerial display of rolling and diving, much more acrobatic than most vultures. During each breeding cycle, a white and brown egg is laid, which is incubated by both sexes over four to six weeks. Usually, around 85 to 90 days after hatching, the young brown chicks will fledge.[10]
Conservation status
This species is widespread throughout much of Africa, and overall, it is relatively common and has a stable population.[1] It is rarer and much more localized in South Africa, although not considered to be under any form of immediate threat in that country.[19] That being said, the threats to this species in South Africa are poorly understood. The low population size makes the species vulnerable to stochastic events. In Mozambique, Parker (1999)[20] observed that cutting down coastal forests was threatening breeding habitats. The main threat to this species in South Africa is habitat loss. Open-cast dune mining and urban expansion have reduced suitable habitats.
The cultivation of Raphia palms for their ornamental value is increasing, providing food and nesting sites. Isimangaliso Wetland Park also protects a large portion of its habitat. There are no current species-specific conservation initiatives as this species is the only vulture species in South Africa with an increasing population. Maintaining this is important because the South African satellite population produces dispersing birds that contribute to keeping the Mozambique population (and hence the larger metapopulation).
Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus)
(Bearded Vulture)
Afrikaans: Baardaasvoel
Embracing the vast open sky, soaring on broad wings, a quest in search of shattered bones through the Ukhahlamba, the Barrier of Spears of the mighty Drakensberg Giants Castle nature reserve. We have travelled a great distance to find this majestic Vulture and watch it fly over these rugged mountains that stretch to distant horizons. Here, we had the great fortune of this unique experience as we were graced with its powerful presence. We watched in awe as it gracefully and silently soared up the valley and over the Lammergeier hide. From this camouflaged vantage point, we could record and witness this brief formative moment of this secretive creature.
We offered our bones to the Vulture Gods, praying that this would entice them closer and encourage a landing at the highest banquet table in the Maluti Drakensberg. We watched and waited patiently, but ever watchful and cautious, he landed unsettled as if he could sense our presence.
Contented with the continued display of multiple flyovers, fiery red eyes scanning the display. We bid farewell to the Critically Endangered Lammergeier and silently pray for his safety and continued existence amongst these grandiose hills he calls home.
We departed with happy hearts, cherished memories, and a sense of good fortune to be among the few who have witnessed this impressive Vulture.
Till next time we meet again, my good friends, the mountains are always calling, and we must return.
Alex Aitkenhead
Bearded Vulture Facts
Bearded Vulture Profile
Up in the mountains of Southern Europe, India and Tibet, there is a bird with a wingspan of almost 3 meters (10ft) and a powerful, bushy neck that likes to break bones.
Legend has it they never alighted on the ground, and European hunters referred to them as “devil birds. ” However, this mysterious creature, now known as the bearded vulture, has a history of being misunderstood.
Bearded Vulture Facts Overview
Habitat: Rocky areas, cliffs and peaks
Location: Europe, Caucasus, Tibet, India
Lifespan: 40 years in captivity
Size: 115cm tall with a wingspan of up to 2.9m
Weight: Up to 7kg
Colour: Dark grey-blue, auburn with a white head
Diet: Mostly bone, some carrion meat
Predators: Humans
Top Speed: ~120 kmph (75 mph) at high altitude
No. of Species: 1
Conservation Status: Near Threatened
The bearded vulture is an enormous, majestic scavenger with a peculiar diet. It mainly feeds on the bones of dead animals.
They are one of the largest birds of prey, larger than a golden eagle, and the largest bird in the Alps. They are also known as the ‘lammergeier’ or ‘ossifrage.
They nest high in the rocky mountains in southern Europe, Africa, the Caucasus, southern Asia, and Tibet. They are scarce, but they have been spotted as far as the Peak District in England.
Bearded vultures are monogamous and tend to lay two eggs when they breed. The smaller egg is biological insurance, as the larger chick tends to kill off its younger sibling, which is known as ‘obligate siblicide’ (and tends to occur in birds).
Legends revere it in legends all over its habitat, dating back to 500 BC and likely earlier. In many cultures, it was considered a force of positivity, but in some, it was deeply dreaded.
It’s currently listed as near threatened, and less than 10,000 birds are thought to exist worldwide. Numerous programs are in place to restore its populations to their former glory.
Bearded Vulture Facts
1. They are Europe’s rarest vulture
These huge birds were once common in Southern Europe and the Balkans. In the 1900s, due to the timeless and destructive nature of human panic, smooth-braided superstitionists all over the continent hunted them almost to extinction because of the hysterical assertion that this bird would carry off sheep and children.
Fortunately, someone with eyes eventually realized these birds do not even eat meat, let alone live animals (or children). Work has since been ongoing to reintroduce the vultures to their previous habitats. 1
2. They rub iron-rich soil into their feathers to give a fiery appearance
Adult bearded vultures have a white coat around their neck and chest, which they purposefully paint a rusty red by bathing in pools thick with iron deposits and rubbing it into themselves.
There’s great debate about why they engage in this behaviour, which appears to be instinctive rather than learned.
Researchers have suggested it may advertise strength and give them a dominant bright orange appearance and a ‘status symbol’. Others argue it has nothing to do with appearance and the iron dioxide might help kill bacteria on their feathers. 2
3. They have a feathery neck
This might not seem strange for a bird, but it is pretty unusual in the world of vultures.
While most vultures have bald necks due to the messy nature of the places they insert their heads when feeding, bearded vultures are not concerned by the threat of a little mess around the gills, perhaps hinting at what they eat.
4. They have some severe stomach acid
While humans have a stomach acid pH of around 1.5, these birds are much closer to a pH of around 1. This potent stomach acid gives you further clues about what it puts in there. 3
5. Their diet is 85-90% bone marrow
If most vultures avoid blood and poop stains from their choice of food and have a much less acidic stomach, it is safe to say that their diet differs from the bearded vulture. And it does.
The latter feeds almost exclusively on bones, which makes it unique in the world of vertebrates.
They can swallow and bite through brittle bones before their powerful digestive system dissolves them.
6. They are bone-breakers
Bearded vultures eat mostly bone but have no teeth to break them up.
Instead, if they have a bone that’s too big to swallow, they have learned to take it up to over 100 meters in the air and drop it onto the craggy rocks below.
Their alternative name, ‘ossifrage’, translates to ‘bone-breaker’.
7. Bearded vulture will drop tortoises from the sky
Bearded vultures will attack live prey, and tortoises are a particular favourite. They will pick up a tortoise, fly to a height, and drop it onto a rock so its shell cracks.
Other animals, like hares and reptiles like lizards, have also suffered the same fate.
8. They’re appropriately named
The taxonomic name for the Bearded vulture is Gypaetus barbatus barbatus, which directly translates to “vulture beard beard”.
9. Bearded vultures have been known to attack large animals
This includes ibex, goats and steenbok (an antelope). Some of these have resulted in deaths, as the bearded vulture has scared them off rocky cliffs.
One of their alternative names, ‘ the lammergeier,’ comes from the German word Lämmergeier, which means “lamb-catcher,” about the belief that they attack lambs and sheep on farms.
10. It’s the source of myths and legends all over history
The Iranian name for the bearded vulture is the Huma, a mythical bird symbolizing unreachable ‘highness’ in Turkey. In ancient Persia, it bestows kinship on those it flies over; in Ottoman poetry, it is described as staying afloat in the air its entire life. Other traditions grant it powers of good fortune, reincarnation and enlightenment.
In Europe, it was known as the devil bird, something which we are desperately trying to correct, in hindsight. 4
11. It has an asteroid named after it
The legend of the Huma inspired an asteroid naming campaign in 2014, which came up with the name 3988 Huma to label a 750m asteroid after this majestic bird. The myth states that it never touches the ground and that its appearance in the sky brings fortune.
12. It is more closely related to hawks than most other vultures
You may be familiar with many vultures from the family Cathartidae, including iconic American species like the California condor and king vulture.
Bearded vultures are from a separate lineage and occupy the family Accipitridae, along with the harpy eagle and the goshawks.
They share this family with the Egyptian vulture, though, so they are not lonely.
13. Bearded vultures are an umbrella species
When working hard to care for a threatened species, conservationists sometimes inadvertently help other species in the same ecosystem and the ecosystem as a whole. This means that focusing efforts on particular ‘umbrella’ species is a cost-effective and efficient way of adding net gain to a conservation location.
Reducing poisoning efforts and protecting bearded vulture habitats has led to the stabilisation of eagle and ibex populations in some areas,
14. Humans are their major threat
The threats that bearded vultures face include poisoning, lead poisoning, collisions with powerlines, and intoxication from NSAIDs, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (like ibuprofen). So where are these vultures getting their hands on our pharmaceuticals?
The use of diclofenac in livestock is widespread. This is an NSAID similar to ibuprofen that farmers use on domestic animals before slaughter. Unfortunately, the accumulation in the bones of these animals is high enough to cause high levels of toxicity in the vultures who consume them, leading to immune system issues, behaviour changes and even death.
It is thought that this drug has been responsible for the disappearance of up to 95% of three species of Old World vulture in the last two decades. Conservationists strongly emphasize the need to improve the monitoring of these effects. 5
Bearded Vulture Fact-File Summary
Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Gypaetus
Species Name: Gypaetus Barbatus
Lifejourney4two – The look of love 💕 Two hooded vultures in the …
Hooded Vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus), Afrikaans: Monnikaasvoel
Range description
This species is widespread in Africa south of the Sahara; from Senegal and southern Mauritania east through southern Niger and Chad, to southern Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia and western Somalia, southwards to northern Namibia and Botswana, and through Zimbabwe to southern Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa and Eswatini (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001, eBird 2021). Across this extensive range, the species is generally sedentary with some dispersal by non-breeders and immature birds and movements in response to rainfall in the Sahel of West Africa (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001). Recent investigations conclude that there are no consistent differences between the putative subspecies. Hence, it is treated as monotypic (Barlow et al. 2020). However, whether some parts of the range could be considered separate subpopulations is uncertain.
This has historically been one of the most abundant vultures, especially in West Africa. Still, data and observations of varying coverage and quality from various parts of its range suggest it is undergoing a very rapid decline in its global population (Ogada and Buij 2011, Ogada et al. 2016, D. Ogada and P. Shaw in litt. 2022). In West Africa, coastal Gambia (with estimates of 7,000-10,500 in a 600 km2 sampled area [Jallow et al. 2016]) and southern coastal Senegal (with possibly 2,350-2,700 pairs in the Ziguinchor Départment alone [B. Bargain in litt. 2016]) remain a stronghold for the species (Barlow and Fulford 2013, C.R. Barlow in litt. 2022). Until recently Guinea-Bissau was considered to have the largest secure national population of more than 43,000 individuals (Henriques et al. 2018), however since 2019 large-scale poisoning incidents have occurred, likely due to cross-border demand for vulture parts (Henriques et al. 2020, M. Henriques in litt. 2022) and declines are suspected to have commenced. Elsewhere all reports are of rapid or extremely rapid reductions: more than 80% reduction in three generations from roost counts in Dakar, northern Senegal (Mullié et al. 2017); rapid reductions and disappearance from large parts of Ghana (abundant only recently, e.g. 500 at Kumasi in 1996 [Mundy 2000]), including from urban Accra (Gbogbo et al. 2016) and with only Mole National Park likely to hold a breeding population (S. Goded and S.B. Yiadom in litt. 2022); near disappearance from Côte d’Ivoire outside of Comoé National Park (Salewski 2021, A.A. Asso, N. A. Koné and V. Salewski in litt. 2022); disappearance from large parts of Togo, where it was previously numerous, with fears that national extinction is possible within 10 years (N. Arcilla and Z. Kolani in litt. 2022); collapse of the formerly large population in Edo State, Nigeria (Nosazeogie et al. 2018) and reports of declines and disappearances from abattoirs and communities in north central Nigeria, alongside evidence of unsustainable trade (Awoyemi 2021, Williams et al. 2021a, b); great reduction in abundance in Benin with only very small numbers recorded from road transect surveys in 2019 (C. Dabone in litt. 2022); rapid declines in southwest Burkina Faso and near disappearance from Ouagadougou since 2010 (Ogada and Buij 2011, Ogada et al. 2016); and rapid decreases in Mali and Niger (Thiollay 2006a, Ogada et al. 2016). In central Africa, rapid declines were recorded from Cameroon between 1973 and 2000 (Thiollay 2001), but further decreases were not apparent in surveys between 2006 and 09 (Ogada and Buij 2011). A minimum of 20,000 individuals was estimated in the 1990s for the Lake Chad basin, overlapping Chad, Cameroon and Niger (Scholte 1998). There is no direct trend information aside from the rapid decline for the Cameroon portion of this, but the species was still one of the most common raptors using the floodplain (Buij and Croes 2013). Little recent information is available for the Central African Republic, where it was at least familiar in parts in the 1990s (Ogada and Buij 2011), or from the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, there are recent records for the latter (eBird 2022).
In East Africa, trends in Uganda are challenging to detect owing to substantial annual variations (Pomeroy et al. 2012). However, 2007-10 road survey data show significant declines compared to data from 1967-68 (Ogada and Buij 2011). In Kenya, steep decreases have been reported (Virani et al. 2011, Ogada et al.2016). Declines are also evident in parts of Tanzania, particularly in Nyerere National Park (C. Kendall in litt. 2022). In Ethiopia it is still widespread (Buechley et al. 2021) and seemingly common (e.g. most abundant species in a study of an urban area in 2018 [Tsegay et al. 2019] and mean abundance of 216±40 at Addis Ababa abattoirs in 2019-20 [Teklemariam and Afework 2021]) and is strongly associated with human settlements (Thompson et al. 2020, Buechley et al. 2021). Still, no trend information is available (Ogada and Buij, 2011). The species is likely still present in southernmost Eritrea, given recent records from the border with Ethiopia (eBird 2022). A population persists in northwestern Somalia around Hargiesa and Burco town (Ogada and Buij 2011, eBird 2022). There are recent records from eastern Sudan in Al Dinder National Park (eBird 2022) but no further information. Hooded Vultures still appear widespread in South Sudan (eBird 2022) and were reported to still be very common in Juba (Ogada and Buij 2011).
In Botswana, road transects between 1991 and 1995 found it to be strongly tied to protected areas (Herremans and Herremans-Tonnoeyr 2000), and it may have declined considerably in the broader landscape before this time. Still, there is no data (Ogada and Buij 2011). In Malawi, the species has suffered local declines, disappearing from Lengwe National Park in the early 2000s, but was considered still fairly common in the north in the mid-2000s (Ogada and Buij 2011). Only an estimated 50 pairs remain in Mozambique, where it was formerly widespread, and in Namibia, it is considered a rare breeder: there is no trend information (Ogada and Buij 2011, Brown and Simmons 2015, Brown et al. 2017). In Zambia, it is found almost throughout, though not in large numbers, while it is only common along the Zambezi in Zimbabwe (Ogada and Buij 2011). There is little information for Angola. It is still present (Ogada and Buij, 2011; eBird, 2022).
Only 100-200 mature individuals are estimated to exist within South Africa and Eswatini (Taylor et al. 2015). The range appears to have contracted between the two atlas periods, and abundance declined in 67% of atlas squares where it was recorded in each atlas (Ogada and Buij 2011). Most are now concentrated around the Greater Kruger National Park (Thompson et al. 2020).
Overall, the area encompassed by the range (minimum convex polygon) is estimated at 22,500,000 km2.
Thomas Varto Nielsen
Lifejourney4two – The look of love 💕 Two hooded vultures in the …
WHITE-BACKED VULTURE
Scientific Name: Gyps Africanus
White-backed Vultures are the most widespread vulture species in Africa. In 2000, they were listed as Vulnerable in the Red Data Book. In 2015, their status was uplifted to Critically Endangered. The population size reduction has been listed as 90% over the last three generations, a rate that is not sustainable and will possibly see this species go extinct over the next three generations. There is a regional population of about 7350 mature birds left.
The increasing incidents of large-scale poisoning, most notably motivated by poaching incidents and harvesting for the traditional health industry, have been identified as the biggest threats to this species.
The White-backed Vulture is a medium-sized vulture with predominantly brown plumage, except for the distinct white patch on the lower back and rump, where the species gets its name.
They are a lowland species that prefers open wooded savanna. They nest in tall trees and have been recorded nesting on electricity pylons. The species is gregarious at carcasses, roost sites, and nests in loose colonies.
Leave a reply