Twenty vulture chicks have been born this month under Vulpro’s captive breeding programme at Shamwari Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape — and more of the Cape and white-backed vultures are expected to hatch before the end of season in mid-August.
Kerri Wolter, CEO of the African vulture conservation organisation Vulpro, said “all our non-releasable disabled birds are not just sitting in an enclosure being viewed” but instead contributing to the survival of their wild counterparts through breeding.
South Africa has more than a dozen critically endangered bird species — and vulture species dominate this list.
The bearded vulture (population 334), hooded vulture (100-200), lappet-faced vulture (160) and white-headed (<250) vulture are on the brink of extinction regionally.
The population of white-backed vultures (6,000), a gregarious species common in South Africa’s bushveld and savannahs, has dropped more than 90% in recent generations.
The threat of extinction is on our doorstep with some species showing localised extinctions
— Kerri Wolter, Vulpro CEO
Vulpro relocated 160 vultures a year ago, from Hartbeespoort to Shamwari, 1,042km away, where they have increased investment in incubation — and the captive breeding programme is thriving.
The genetic diversity within their breeding stock, rescued from across different regions, ensures a robust foundation for future generations, said Wolter.
Vultures are slow to reproduce, laying one egg a year, and species such as the Cape vulture take about seven years to reach sexual maturity.
“Survival rates from egg to adult hover at about 5%. With such low reproductive rates, we cannot sustain the current losses. When vulture numbers are reduced to critical levels, they also stop breeding,” she said.
John Davies, project co-ordinator of raptor conservation and research for the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), said: “Vultures play a critical role in South Africa’s ecosystems by acting as nature’s cleanup crew. By rapidly consuming carcasses, they prevent the spread of disease to both wildlife and livestock, helping to maintain ecosystem health and balance.
“Their decline, driven largely by poisoning, habitat loss and the impact of energy infrastructure, poses a serious threat to biodiversity and human health. Their conservation is not just about saving a species, but about safeguarding the integrity of entire ecosystems and the communities that rely on them.”
South Africa has a multi-species biodiversity management plan for vultures, which supports the establishment of vulture safe zones and ongoing research, among other initiatives.
The EWT has a long track record in the conservation of birds of prey, combining research with interventions to rescue vultures in danger — for example, from poisoning — with its vulture ambulance.
Along with its breeding programme, Vulpro supports rescues, rehabilitation, population monitoring and education. The captive breeding programme — the world’s largest for African vultures — started in 2015 and now has about 300 of these raptors in its care.
Many of its non-releasable vultures were injured or disabled in collisions with power lines or energy infrastructure and are now breeding in their monogamous pairs.
“Sometimes the pairs fight who's breeding the chick or who’s incubating the egg. They fight for those responsibilities ... breeding always shows me how fragile and how gentle they are,” Wolter said.
The adults share responsibilities for nest building, incubation and rearing chicks, initially small enough to fit into a hand, in a gruelling 54-day incubation period.
Wolter said: “Vulpro spent years following the US and European captive breeding initiatives, learning, refining and growing our work with the understanding that — should a crisis hit Africa — our breeding programme could become a lifeline in preventing some vulture species’ extinctions.
“Fast-forward 10 years and the threat of extinction is on our doorstep, with some species showing localised extinctions in South Africa.”
Vulpro keeps stringent records to ensure genetic lineages are maintained, and chicks are returned to their biological parents after assisted hatching when necessary, said Wolter.
“We learnt from [the Asian] breeding programme that it is never too early to start a founding population of species before you have to take birds out of the wild.”
And now Vulpro is releasing young vultures of about nine months old back into the wild.
