Unlikely Friends: Here’s How Vultures Are Helping Save This Country’s Big Cats

Scientists in Zambia are satellite tagging vultures in an effort to help save critical wild cat populations.

“The vultures cover up to 30,000 square kilometers in a year, almost the entire range of the park. Because they’re using these huge areas, they really tell you about the whole landscape and multiple different territories where lions and other wildlife gather,” explains Corinne Kendall, a scientist leading the project in the Kafue National Park in Zambia.

Since the birds started acting as research assistants for the scientists, the Kafue National Park has seen a major comeback. Leopard populations in the region have tripled in the last four years, and lions, cheetahs, and elephant numbers are either stabilizing or increasing. “One of the reasons why we’re so excited about the program is because not only are we seeing recovery, but we are able to measure it as well,” says Kim Young-Overton, the region’s program director of the nonprofit Panthera, a global wild cat conservation organization also working on the vulture program.