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Vulture Conservation
Project & Vulture Breeding and Release Programme
The Cape Vulture (CV) is southern Africa's only
endemic vulture species and is classified as vulnerable,
although as an endemic species, it is listed as
endangered.
They are The Gauteng Department of
Agriculture Conservation and Environment's No1 Priority
Bird Species and a focal species for North West
Province. The population continues to decline at a rapid
rate and already the species is extinct in Swaziland;
extinct as a breeding species in Zimbabwe and critically
endangered in Namibia with only 12 known wild Cape
Vultures left.
It is for this reason that some
years ago, a captive vulture reintroduction program was
established, to try and release captive bred vultures
into Namibia. However, this project never really took
off and only 1 group of 10 birds were ever sent to
Namibia.
Of these 10 birds, 4 have known to have
died, 3 were brought back into captivity as they were
human imprinted and the status of the others is unknown.
Cape vultures face a number of threats and, as a
result, their populations are thought to be declining
throughout much of their range. A primary reason for
these declines is poisoning. Farmers sometimes poison
carcasses and leave them out to kill unwanted predators,
such as leopards and jackals, but often the poison kills
large groups of Cape vultures and other scavenging
species that also feed on the carcass.
A decrease
in carnivores within the vulture�s range, due to farming
activities, has also been blamed for causing skeleton
abnormalities in chicks. Large carnivores would break up
the bones of carcasses into small fragments, and the
Cape vultures would feed these tiny fragments to the
chicks as a source of calcium.
Collisions with
power lines and vehicles are more recent dangers for the
Cape vulture, as well as hunting for traditional
medicine, human disturbance, and drowning in water
tanks. In Namibia, mismanagement of rangelands has led
to severe bush encroachment over large areas, and recent
research has indicated that this has an adverse effect
on their ability to find food.
The need to
establish a sound captive breeding program and release
all viable offspring into Namibia is vital, in order to
try and save the remaining CV population. To date, we
know that CV and African White-backed vultures are
pairing up in Namibia, due to the lack of CV species in
the country, therefore we would like to not only
establish a sound breeding plan, but establish a
successful reintroduction release program into Namibia,
trying to boost the population to prevent the extinction
of the species in the Country.
Part of plan
would mean that all released birds are fitted with
tracking devices before release so as to monitor the
birds� movements and ascertain whether we are successful
or not.
The Johannesburg Zoo also provides free
veterinary assistance to VULPRO who are our project
partners.
www.vultureconservation.co.za
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