Executive Summary

Vultures form an important ecological component of our natural environment, cleaning up dead carcasses and decreasing the spread of some diseases. The relationship between vultures and people is also a venerable one – vultures played roles in some early societies, including the Egyptian and the Hindu societies; vultures continue to be used as symbols or metaphors in modern societies; and vulture body parts are used in muthi.

Today, vultures face an unprecedented onslaught from human activities. They have to cope with electrocutions and collisions with electrical structures, poisonings, land-use changes, a decrease in food availability and exposure to toxicity through veterinary drugs, to list just a few of some of the challenges facing vultures today.

Vultures, positioned at the top of the food chain, are an indicator of the health of the environment below them – and dependent for their survival on a healthy environment. As such the work of the Vulture Conservation Programme ("VulPro") work is intended and expected to impact on many other aspects of the environment – beyond vultures.

VulPro approaches vulture conservation in an integrated, multidisciplinary fashion, with the benefits from the programme accruing to both vultures and society at large. VulPro combines education and good science, with networking, capacity building and knowledge generation. The veterinary disciplines of toxicology, pharmacology, clinical pathology and medicine are combined with the science of cell-phone telemetry and the banking of genetic resources, with the goal being to positively influence the well-being of our natural resources to the ultimate benefit of society. In this regard, VulPro engages in a number of interrelated activities, and uses a variety of resources, in endeavouring to meet its objectives.

GPS tracking devises are used to determine foraging and home ranges of a large number of vultures in Southern Africa. The output from this research allows for the monitoring of capture-release free-ranging vultures and for the mapping of areas for further actions (such as community education and the safeguarding of vulture food through the monitoring of vulture restaurants).

VulPro conducts and facilitates educational talks and interaction with both tame and wild vultures at the rehabilitation and educational centre in Hartbeespoort, and regionally, through the follow-up of vulture home range and feeding studies.

Undertaking and publishing studies determining drug residues in carcasses, and lobbying communities and society for appropriate actions to be taken to benefit our natural environment and to ameliorate the effects of drugs on vultures are part of VulPro's work. This work includes proactive efforts to determine, evaluate and monitor veterinary drugs or chemical residues in carcasses that are made available to vultures; building dedicated laboratory models for predicting avian toxicity; using mass awareness campaigns to involve and get feed-back from the public; determining the home ranges of vultures, so as to better understand their foraging habits; and collecting appropriate biological samples for current and future project use.

Through partners, such as the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Pretoria, potentially harmful veterinary substances similar to diclofenac, can be identified and monitored. Where necessary, VulPro can engage in or support lobbying for the removal or responsible use of these substances.

With the many threats vultures are facing throughout Southern Africa, vulture rehabilitation has become an essential part of the work of VulPro. Collecting grounded, injured, poisoned and disabled vultures around South Africa, special emphasis within the Gauteng, North West and Limpopo Provinces, VulPro is able to save many vultures that would otherwise have met untimely deaths. By doing this, VulPro is in a position to release those vultures that are fit and healthy and to keep in captivity those that cannot be released, for breeding, research and educational purposes. Vulture populations are in many instances so depleted that the rehabilitation and release of individual birds can be ecologically and genetically significant. At present, VulPro operates the only facility approved by Gauteng Nature Conservation and recognised by North West Nature Conservation for vulture rehabilitation.

This multidisciplinary and networking programme looks at conservation holistically, by focusing on the vulture at the top of the food chain and gaining new knowledge on the environment below and so also impacting on society's well-being.

Objectives:

• Vulture rehabilitation
Collect injured, grounded and disabled vultures
On-going monitoring of released vultures using patagial tags and GSM/GPS devices

• Distribution, dispersal and foraging ranges of vultures
Tracking of the Magaliesberg Cape Vultures using patagial tags and GSM/GPS devices
Monitoring of vulture restaurants and recording vulture re-sightings i.e. patagial tags and photographs
Tracking African White-backed and Cape Vultures which frequently visit Mankwe Nature Reserve, adjacent to Pilansberg
Monitoring and tracking Cape Vultures from the Manoutse breeding colony near Kruger National Park
Recording and keeping a database of all vulture re-sightings related to the B-series of patagial/wing tags

• Cape Vulture breeding monitoring (four largest colonies globally):
Magaliesberg
Kransberg
Blouberg
Manoutsa

• Veterinary and ecological research related to vultures:
Researching the effects of lead and NSAID's on vultures
Surveying and studying vulture restaurants
Researching the role vultures play in the spread of diseases
Ongoing research related to providing veterinary treatment for vultures (i.e. for snake bites, poisonings etc.)

• Cape Vulture breeding and reintroduction programme (Namibia)
Creating a safer environment for vultures in Namibia.
Rebuilding the Cape Vulture population in Namibia.
Monitoring the Cape Vulture population in Namibia as part of a national avian scavenger population monitoring programme.
Providing an effective information, outreach, education and information sharing platform for vulture conservation as well as facilitating collaborative conservation support in Namibia and the region.

• Vulture educational and awareness programmes
Holding talks and public displays
Conducting workshops and training
Assisting with farmer/vulture conflicts

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Your donations to help the plight of Vultures will be hugely appreciated and will go a long way to ensuring the continued survival of these wonderful birds.

Contact us to see how you can play an important role in vulture conservation and other projects in South Africa.

Kerri Wolter
Mobile: +27 82 808 5113
Fax: +27 86 505 6470


Walter Neser
Mobile: +27 76 593 9849

Your donations to help the plight of Vultures will be hugely appreciated and will go a long way to ensuring the continued survival of these wonderful birds.

Contact us to see how you can play an important role in vulture conservation and other projects in South Africa.

Kerri Wolter
Mobile: +27 82 808 5113
Fax: +27 86 505 6470


Walter Neser
Mobile: +27 76 593 9849

VulPro engages in public awereness programmes and education campaigns in South Africa and further afield. The largest event annually is International Vulture awareness Day, which draws in excess of 500 visitors to the center on the first Saturday of September.

School groups visit the center and are given a 30 minute formal power point presentation in our educational facilities followed by close-up encounters with 5 vulture species as well as other large birds of prey and owls. Each child is given a vulture booklet and interactive sheet to take home and/or complete in their classrooms.

We also offer unique school experiences to schools whereby we take a live vulture into the classroom and offer the school, its pupils and staff a close-up educational experience. We also provide educational material during these visits together with a formal power point presentation, structured to meet the pupils age groups. For further information please contact us.

Vulpro act as host and supervisor to students for their practical year, supplying accomodation, stypend and hand on conservation and rehabilitation experiance, as well as research projects.

THE VULTURE
A vulture is an easily recognizable bird with its large size, bald-head, hooked bill which feeds on carcasses and majestically soars through the skies.

A particular characteristic of many vultures is the bald head, devoid of feathers. This is because a feathered head would become spattered with blood and other fluids, and thus be difficult to keep clean.

Vultures are found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica.

Vultures have always evoked strong emotions from people; from being seen as symbols of divine qualities, clairvoyant whereby they are able to 'see' into the future to being misunderstood and called 'ugly, disease riddled' birds. Vultures have for years been persecuted and misunderstood by many, it is for this reason that they are continuously declining at a rapid rate. Their habitat and unique behaviour is unknown, or misunderstood and so is their reason for existence.

Old World vulture
(Source: www.wikipedia.com)

Old World vultures belong to the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. They are not at all closely related to the superficially similar New World vultures and condors, and do not share that group's good sense of smell. The similarities between the two groups are due to convergent evolution rather than a close relationship. They were widespread in both the Old World and North America, during the Neogene.

Vultures are scavenging birds, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals. Old World vultures find carcasses exclusively by sight.

Humans have made astonishing advances in technology and communication in recent years; however we are dangerously close to losing valuable species on our continent due to ignorance and mismanagement. Today, vultures all over the world are facing similar threats:

Poisoning
Electrocution
Habitat destruction
Declining food availability
Affects of NSAIDs in the vulture food chain
Direct persecution
Drowning in farm reservoirs
Disturbance at colonies
Illegal collection for traditional medicine

IMPORTANCE OF VULTURES

Vultures and other avian scavengers play a very important ecological role in clearing the veld of carcasses. By rapidly consuming remains of dead animals, vultures can prevent these carcasses from acting as host to various diseases that may spread to livestock. They can also alert farmers to dead stock, in this way potential disease outbreaks can be avoided.

Vultures play a vital role in helping landowners get rid of carcasses which are unfit for human consumption and which would normally have been 'hygienically' disposed of by burning or burying.

The Cape Vulture

Scientific Name: Gyps coprotheres (feces-eating vulture)

English: Cape Griffon Vulture, Cape Vulture, Kolbe's Griffon

AFR: Kransaasvoël

"coprotheres" is derived from the Greek word "kopros" meaning dung or manure and "thera" meaning to hunt or capture. "Gyps" is Greek for a vulture.

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitridae

Genus: Gyps

Species: coprotheres

Binomial name: Gyps coprotheres (Forster, 1798)

The Cape Griffon or Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres) is an Old World vulture. It is endemic to southern Africa, and is found mainly in South Africa, Lesotho and Botswana. They nest on cliffs and usually lay one egg per year.

Distribution, Habitat and Status

Restricted to southern Africa with main colonies in South Africa. Critically endangered in Namibia, extinct as a breeding species in Zimbabwe and endangered in Swaziland. Approximately 10 000 individuals' left and 2900 breeding pairs. Breed and roost on cliff face ledges.

Distinctive behaviour

Roosts and builds its stick-nests in colonies of several hundred birds on high cliffs, which become streaked with white droppings. Sunbathes and soars around the nest cliffs, gliding out over the surrounding country to search for carrion. Descends in numbers to feed at carcasses, often with other vulture species. Fights over food with harsh, grating calls or stands with wings outstretched. Visits regular bathing pools and baths after eating.

Appearance

Heavy, pale, long-necked vulture. Pale cream with black flight feathers. Line of dark blobs along greater wing coverts. Bill and cere black; eyes yellow, skin blue. Juvenile darker brown with pink neck skin and dark eye. Very large (about 95cm tall, 2,55m wingspan). Weight average 11kgs.

Reproduction

The female lays a single egg, and shares the responsibilities of incubation and feeding with her lifelong mate. They breed in winter. In March and April the birds pair up and either re-occupy old sites or build a new nest from grass, plants and sticks. The incubation period is about 56 days and duties are shared by the parents. By July most of the birds are caring for recently hatched chicks and waiting patiently for their partners to return from foraging. It will be four months before the chicks venture out of the nest to take their first flight. Even after this they will frequently return to the nest for feeding.

Your donations to help the plight of Vultures will be hugely appreciated and will go a long way to ensuring the continued survival of these wonderful birds.

Contact us to see how you can play an important role in vulture conservation and other projects in South Africa.

Kerri Wolter
Mobile: +27 82 808 5113
Fax: +27 86 505 6470


Walter Neser
Mobile: +27 76 593 9849

Your donations to help the plight of Vultures will be hugely appreciated and will go a long way to ensuring the continued survival of these wonderful birds.

Contact us to see how you can play an important role in vulture conservation and other projects in South Africa.

Kerri Wolter
Mobile: +27 82 808 5113
Fax: +27 86 505 6470


Walter Neser
Mobile: +27 76 593 9849

CONSERVATION PROJECTS
Vulture monitoring

Although the Cape Vulture has been the recipient of much conservation action it is still declining and the Cape Vulture Task Force has resolved to put in place a conservation programme around each of the breeding colonies to try and halt this decline. There are three important elements to monitoring a Cape Vulture breeding colony: documenting its physical characteristics, estimating the number of breeding pairs and estimating a number of demographic parameters, the most important of which is breeding success:

• Determine the number of active breeding pairs within the population in each region of identified key species.
• Assess productivity (fledglings) of key species in each region.
• To identify and mitigate against potential threats that may impact on vulture populations in the region.
• To identify the need for, promote and implement appropriate conservation actions to the benefit of vultures where necessary.
• To enhance the public profile of vulture conservation, the Vulture Monitoring Project and its implementing partners.

Vulture rehabilitation

While the actual reason for the poor survival of the species is not known, it has been speculated that problems such as pylon injuries, malicious poisonings, muti killings and insufficient food source could have all been contributory. In an effort to decrease the continual loss of birds, various conservation programmes were established, one such effort is the rehabilitation of injured, grounded and disabled vultures.  The idea being to try and release all abled specimens back into the wild as soon as possible. This will ensure viable breeding vultures are not lost from the wild population as well as increase our understanding of veterinarian problems in the species.

Awareness & Education Campaign

A mass awareness and education campaign will be used to firstly create more awareness as to the vulture’s predicament and its ecological role in the environment and secondly to mobilise the public, birders and ornithologists to participate in the re-sightings of tagged vultures for the study on home and foraging range of vultures in southern Africa.

About Parahawking:
http://www.parahawking.com

Cape Vulture Breeding & Reintroduction Programme into Namibia

Ever since studies were first made of bird’s species within southern Africa, the status of the Cape Vulture has been the subject of much debate; with most of the earlier records for the species being somewhat anecdotal. With the formation of the EWT’s Vulture Study Group in 1973 an attempt was made to collate everything that had been recorded for all the breeding colonies and roosts in southern Africa which led to the accumulation of both published and unpublished references for the species range. There are many examples where individual researchers, or groups of interested persons have monitored individual breeding colonies or regions (e.g. Borello and Borello 2002; Brown and Piper 1988; Benson, Tarboton, Allan and Dobbs 1990 etc.). However, the monitoring of Cape Vulture colonies has become such a massive task that the Cape Vulture Task Force (CVTF) was formed at a meeting held at Sterkfontein Dam in the Free State, South Africa on Tuesday 14 March 2006. It was decided at the time to initiate conservation action as well as to monitor the largest and most important breeding colonies across southern Africa, starting with the 2006 breeding season. It was also decided at the time that some of the smaller and more peripheral sites should also be the object of conservation action monitoring.

The Namibian Colonies:  Unfortunately through the irresponsible use of poisons, the Cape Vulture has become critically endangered in Namibia where only 12 known wild Cape Vultures are left in the entire country.

Your donations to help the plight of Vultures will be hugely appreciated and will go a long way to ensuring the continued survival of these wonderful birds.

Contact us to see how you can play an important role in vulture conservation and other projects in South Africa.

Kerri Wolter
Mobile: +27 82 808 5113
Fax: +27 86 505 6470


Walter Neser
Mobile: +27 76 593 9849

The vulture rehabilitation centre is situated just outside of Hartbeespoort dam, below the Magaliesberg Mountains on a small holding totaling 9,4 hectares. (Did you know the Magaliesberg Range is one of the oldest mountain range in the world?).  The centre is open to the public by appointment only, school tours are offered and community service projects are also available on request. Family picnics can also be arranged. Prices are kept to a minimum charge with the full amount going straight back into vulture conservation:

R50 per adult

R20 per child under the age of 12

The Centre’s aim is to release all fightable, fit and healthy birds back into the wild as soon as possible and to provide a safe haven for those unable to be successfully released.  The birds housed on a permanent basis fall into our educational, breeding or research programmes. Unfortunately we cannot accommodate all birds of prey and these are then handed over to reputable organisations such as the Johannesburg Zoo for their display and breeding programmes.

The Centre is occasionally visited by our wild resident Cape Vultures which roost along the cliffs of the mountains, as well as the occasional vagrant Marabou Stork. Other smaller wild bird species to be seen visiting the centre include; black-breasted snake eagles, yellow-billed kites, crimson breasted shrike, speckled pigeons, waxbills, thrush, and cattle egrets to name a few.

The Centre is home to a large number of birds of prey although our focus remains on vultures:

• Cape Vultures
• African White-backed Vultures
• Lappet-faced Vultures
• Palm-nut Vultures
• Bateleur Eagles
• Brown Snake Eagles
• Steppe Buzzard
• Yellow-billed Kite
• Spotted Eagle Owls

For additional variety, we also have some very friendly horses and a couple of blesbok.

Directions:

Pretoria:  Take the Van der Hoff Road (R514) which begins at Hermanstad (Pretoria) and travel towards Hartebeespoort / Brits
Just before Hartebeespoort you will pass a butchery called Byernes, then another butchery called Byerkorf on the right hand side, a couple of meters thereafter you will pass an Excel garage on your left.  Less than 1 km, you will come to a dirt road on your right called Boekenhoutkloof. Turn right into Boekenhoutkloof and travel along this dirt road for about 800m. You will pass three other entrances on your right.  You will then come to No. 121 on the right hand side, large wall with our signage.

Fourways passing Lanseria:   Pass the Lanseria airport and continue until T-junction at Broederstroom, At the intersection, turn right and pass Pilandaba. Go over robots and at the next stop street, turn left and continue until t-junction where there is a slip way to the left. Turn left and continue, passing Xanado estates. Pass the robot and then 2 stop streets. At the 3rd stop street turn right at the total garage (on right) and continue,until t-junction.  At the t-junction, turn right and carry on straight along this road for approx 5km or so.  You will then come to a resort on the left called Bonanza. Shortly after this you will see a sign for Boekenhoutkloof on the left hand side where you will turn into. Travel along this dirt road for about 1km or so. You will pass three other entrances on your right.  You will then come to 121 on the right hand side with a large wall and signage.

Animal Adoptions:
Wrangler and Cherokee the Lappet-faced Vultures
Adopted by: The Jeep Club of South Africa (www.jeepclubsa.co.za)

Flaps & Ziggy the Cape Vultures
Adopted by: Jika Africa (www.jika.co.za)

Harry the Bateleur Eagle and Mafuta the Cape Vulture
Adopted by: ABC Auto Parts (www.abcautoparts.co.za)

Lilo the African White-backed Vulture
Adopted by: the Van de Biezen Family

Your donations to help the plight of Vultures will be hugely appreciated and will go a long way to ensuring the continued survival of these wonderful birds.

Contact us to see how you can play an important role in vulture conservation and other projects in South Africa.

Kerri Wolter
Mobile: +27 82 808 5113
Fax: +27 86 505 6470


Walter Neser
Mobile: +27 76 593 9849

Media and Publications

Your donations to help the plight of Vultures will be hugely appreciated and will go a long way to ensuring the continued survival of these wonderful birds.

Contact us to see how you can play an important role in vulture conservation and other projects in South Africa.

Kerri Wolter
Mobile: +27 82 808 5113
Fax: +27 86 505 6470


Walter Neser
Mobile: +27 76 593 9849

Your donations to help the plight of Vultures will be hugely appreciated and will go a long way to ensuring the continued survival of these wonderful birds.

Contact us to see how you can play an important role in vulture conservation and other projects in South Africa.

Kerri Wolter
Mobile: +27 82 808 5113
Fax: +27 86 505 6470


Walter Neser
Mobile: +27 76 593 9849

Your donations to help the plight of Vultures will be hugely appreciated and will go a long way to ensuring the continued survival of these wonderful birds.

Contact us to see how you can play an important role in vulture conservation and other projects in South Africa.

Kerri Wolter
Mobile: +27 82 808 5113
Fax: +27 86 505 6470


Walter Neser
Mobile: +27 76 593 9849