International Vulture Awareness Day and my work with VulPro

This past June, I got to spend two weeks doing something I have dreamed about my whole life: participating in field conservation work abroad by volunteering at VulPro, an African vulture conservation organization located in Hartbeesport, South Africa. I was provided with this opportunity via Zoo Atlanta’s Jennifer Mickelberg Field Conservation Grant. While I was extremely excited to be going on this trip, my anxiety about a 15+ hour flight to a foreign country on my own overshadowed my excitement in the days leading up to my departure. After arriving at VulPro, I quickly learned that all my anxieties were unfounded, as I was welcomed as family to the VulPro team the moment I stepped foot on their grounds.

I arrived at VulPro close to 9 p.m. in the evening and after a quick tour of the lodging, I was told I would be leaving with Clarence early the next morning to make the over six-hour drive to a game reserve in Kimberely, South Africa to do tree nest surveys. I had never done something like that before, so I had no clue what to expect, but I was excited, nonetheless. Clarence is VulPro’s Operations and Field Assistant and is well experienced in vulture population and nest surveys, so I was in good hands. I was told we were going to look at white-backed vulture nests. White-backed vultures are critically endangered. Since being discovered in 1865, their population has decreased by over 90%. Like all other African vulture species, white-backed vultures face many threats, including power line collisions and electrocutions, both accidental and intentional poisonings, habitat loss, and the use of their organs in traditional healing practices. The surveys we conducted help keep track of population sizes and trends, where the vultures nest, and which nests have eggs.

Once we got to the game reserve, there was some discussion of where the nests were located, and then we set off! I was told that there were cheetahs, giraffes, wildebeest, warthogs, and so many more mammals, (not to mention an infinite amount of bird species!) on these tens of thousands of acres of land. After a while of driving and stopping to get pictures of every animal I saw, we made it to the first nesting site. The trees were sparse, but thick with leaves, so it was difficult to tell exactly where the nests were from the ground. At times, we could see a dark blob or a large clump of leaves or sticks that indicated a nest; at other times we would see a vulture head poking up above the tree’s canopy. This obviously makes it hard to be sure if a vulture, nest, or even an egg is in the trees! During surveys like this, drone cameras become vital so that data can be collected while causing as little disturbance as possible to the nesting vultures. Clarence got the drone out and as soon as it flew over the top of the tree, we were greeted by the sight of a vulture incubating an egg! The sight of the egg of this critically endangered species brought tears to my eyes and filled me with inspiration. I truly could have spent all day observing one pair of vultures and their nest. Alas, we had to move on to more nests. We continued this same process, following Clarence’s map of previous years’ nesting sites, until we had checked all nests in the area and it started to get dark. The next day, we headed back to VulPro’s facility.

During the road trip and surveys, I witnessed how dozens of vultures choose to sit atop the pylons, and some even nest up there! Not only are the pylons dangerous, but the power lines themselves are often uninsulated, so when a vulture touches it, it completes an electrical circuit and causes electrocution. While we know they can get electrocuted up there, the vultures don’t know this until it happens. They choose these spots to roost and nest because of the height and seclusion. Unfortunately, this, and the fact that the power lines are hard to see when flying, makes for a dangerous situation for vultures and other bird species. VulPro conducts annual powerline surveys and has identified well over 100 electrocution cases and cared for hundreds of birds injured from these incidents. The organization also works with Eskom, a major electricity provider in southern Africa. Together, Eskom and VulPro install bird flight diverters to make conductors more visible to birds, insulate hazardous sections to prevent electrocution upon contact, and modify high-risk pylons and lines to make them safer.

Once back at VulPro, I met the rest of the team: TeeKay, Gerald, Notice, Esther, and Nadia! I was then quickly integrated into the daily activities. Every habitat has a specific purpose. Most of them house vultures who are too injured to be released, and others are specifically for the birds who are being treated and rehabilitated. This facility houses dozens of Cape vultures, a few white-backed vultures, some hooded vultures, and a pair of white-headed vultures. The birds who are non-releasable are put into VulPro’s breeding population with hopes of successful breeding seasons each year. The birds who reproduce raise their chicks on VulPro’s grounds until they are strong enough to survive on their own and are then released into their native habitats. This is important for maintaining each species’ population and its genetic diversity!

The mornings began with either providing or removing carcasses from each vulture habitat. VulPro gets pig and cow carcasses that would otherwise be wasted, donated to them from local meat producers, and uses them to feed their resident vultures. I had a lot of fun bringing in the food and then watching the birds run, hop, and fly over to feast!

VulPro also supports wild vultures by running a Vulture Restaurant! Vulture Restaurants supply safe, reliable, and accessible supplementary food sources for native, wild vulture consumption on a regular basis. There are strict guidelines for running a Vulture Restaurant that help keep the vultures and other birds safe from injury and illness. Mainly, the carcasses that are put out for this are free from lead and certain veterinary drugs that could poison the vultures and other birds that consume the provided food. Watching wild vultures come down to the carcasses all day, every day, was truly beautiful. At any point, you could look up in the sky above VulPro and see dozens of Cape vultures circling above. There are times when hundreds of vultures will be at the Vulture Restaurant at once! This is just one example of how the work VulPro does supports not only the injured and sick vultures, but also the populations that are still in the wild.

After feeding, we began caring for the vultures who were actively being rehabilitated and needed medical treatments, which was one of my favorite parts of each day. June is one of the slower months for rehabilitation, so there were only three to four vultures who needed treatment. There are some months when the hospital enclosures are full of birds needing specific care, and it takes hours to be done with treatments. VulPro works in collaboration with veterinarians to be able to properly care for each bird, including giving pain medicine and antibiotics, X-rays, laser therapy, medicinal treatments for poisonings, and much more.

VulPro would not be able to accomplish everything they do without the volunteer work and donations they receive from people, zoos, and aquariums all over the world. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) SAFE African Vulture Program brings in a lot of the help that VulPro receives. SAFE African Vulture was established in 2017 in response to the need to save endangered to critically endangered African vultures. This program’s goal is to address the threats to African vultures (mainly poisonings), monitor populations, increase knowledge about vulture population status, and increase public engagement in African vulture conservation both among visitors to AZA-accredited institutions and among those within these birds’ natural range.

SAFE African Vulture and its partners work together to support conservation organizations via spreading awareness, raising funds, exchanging knowledge, and providing in-field support! One of SAFE African Vulture’s listed field partners is VulPro. In the field, SAFE African Vulture is focusing on broadening the scope of population monitoring of target vulture species, diminishing poisoning event prevalence, improving knowledge of vulture biology via research, monitoring and managing the threat of infrastructure collision and electrocutions, and enhancing rehabilitation, breeding, and release of African vultures. VulPro has been a leader in contributing to each of these points and continues to do so. Along with the support of SAFE African Vulture, VulPro continuously works with and participates in meetings of South Africa’s National Vulture Task Force, National Poison Prevention Working Group, and the National Lead Task Force. VulPro not only works to collaborate with South Africa’s government but also fosters passion for vultures by supporting students, from high school to undergraduates and PhD students.

So, how can we, people halfway across the world, support VulPro and SAFE African Vulture, when we are so far away? The simplest way is donating directly to VulPro and other SAFE African Vulture conservation partners or by purchasing and donating something from their wish lists! Both have websites where you can learn even more about what is done each day to save African vultures, as well as support the work directly. VulPro and SAFE African Vulture also have apparel and other merchandise that directly support their conservation work. VulPro has an especially fun program where you can adopt a vulture by paying a certain amount each year to support the vulture’s lifelong care and wellbeing. VulPro and other SAFE African Vulture conservation partners also frequently take volunteers and rely on volunteer work heavily to function each day, which is what I was able to do!

If you are unable to support vulture conservation directly, simply educating yourself and those around you makes a large impact. One of the largest misconceptions is that vultures are gross, mean, and ugly, when in fact they mind their own business, clean up the environment, prevent the spread of diseases, and are some of the most beautiful and personable birds! I hope reading about my experience and the work done to conserve these vultures inspires you to learn more about vultures around the world and the work VulPro does.

(Photo courtesy of VulPro)

Madelyn M.
Bird Team