Decades Later, This Endemic Bird Returns

The Cape vulture, Southern Africa’s only endemic vulture species, has significantly returned to the area.

“There’s more and more movement and foraging of the birds, and they are now finding these historical areas that they used to occur in and that it’s now safe again, which I think is incredibly exciting,” says Kerri Wolter, CEO of Vulpro, a holistic conservation group dedicated to Africa’s vulture populations.

The number of endemic birds began to decrease back in the 1970s, with an estimated 70 per cent of the total Cape vulture population in South Africa having died off by 2007. Amazingly, by 2021, its conservation status went from endangered to vulnerable, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. Today, a bulk of the roughly 11,000 individuals call South Africa home. This conservation success story, however, comes after decades of behind-the-scenes recovery efforts, including slowing land use, reducing unintentional poisonings, setting up rehabilitation centres, reducing the threat of collisions with power lines, and conducting captive breeding programs. “With a stable to increasing population at present, the cape vulture does indeed provide hope for our conservation efforts focused on other species,” adds André Botha, co-chair of the Vulture Specialist Group for the IUCN.