Saving silent wings: How conservationists are making a difference
- Feb 10
- 3 min read
In May 2025, the still air over the Kruger National Park was shattered by a scene no conservationist wants to witness. Not far from a poisoned elephant carcass lay hundreds of vultures, silently scattered across the dusty ground. The scene was a stark reminder of how fragile these scavengers have become.
This was not an isolated tragedy. Across southern Africa, poisonings have become alarmingly frequent. Vultures are hit the hardest. The reasons make their plight especially tragic.
Why vultures are vulnerable
According to Dr Gerhard Verdoorn, a toxicologist and long-time vulture advocate, poisoning happens in one of two ways. Poachers either lace carcasses with toxins to kill target animals for the illegal wildlife trade, or they lace carcasses after a poaching event to silence the vultures. When vultures no longer circle above a carcass, rangers and anti-poaching units lose one of nature’s most reliable alarms.
“It is unbelievable to think you can lose 100 vultures or more in a single incident,” says Verdoorn. “Mother Nature simply cannot restore the population in 30 or 40 years. It is totally impossible.”
The Red Data Book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini 2025 bring it into sharp focus. Of the 147 bird species now listed as threatened or near-threatened, vultures are among the hardest hit. Poisoning alone accounts for roughly 61% of recorded vulture deaths, making it the single greatest threat to their survival. Other causes include belief-based use and trade, collisions, and electrocution.
Vultures are nature’s sanitation workers. By consuming carcasses, they recycle nutrients and help prevent the spread of diseases such as anthrax and rabies. Their disappearance destabilises entire ecosystems.
Among the hardest hit are Africa’s most iconic species. The bearded, hooded, lappet-faced, white-backed, and white-headed vultures are now Critically Endangered.
A glimmer of hope: The Cape vulture
Yet the Red Data Book also offers signs that conservation can succeed. The Cape vulture, once teetering on the brink, was downlisted to Vulnerable in 2025. Organisations such as Vulpro has played a key role, rehabilitating injured vultures, establishing breeding programmes, and reintroducing birds to safe habitats.
“We have released about 100 vultures already, with another 30 to be released soon,” says Kerri Wolter, Vulpro’s CEO. “Our post-release survival rate is around 75%, which is hugely encouraging.”
For Wolter, success goes beyond numbers. “Our approach is engagement, not education. People learn to live with vultures and understand how they fit into the ecosystem. Every species is connected — take one out, and the system begins to wobble, like Jenga.”
While the model shows promise, each vulture species presents unique challenges. Replicating success for the white-backed or other critically endangered vultures will require understanding their specific behaviours and habitats before intervention.
A ticking clock
Even with dedicated organisations and engaged communities, the pace of poisoning continues to threaten survival. “The work done by organisations like Vulpro won’t make a dent if we allow this poisoning to continue unabated,” warns Verdoorn. “If we don’t act, we will lose these species in our lifetime.”
The sky may seem endless and untouchable, but over southern Africa, it is growing quieter. Every poisoned carcass, every lost bird, is a warning.
For more insight, listen to Dr Gerhard Verdoorn discuss the crisis on our podcast:
For more information on the work of Vulpro, see www.vulpro.com/
Poisoning timeline
· March 2024: 80 vultures and a hyena were killed due to poisoning (Kruger National Park)
· August 2022: Around 100 vultures and a hyena were poisoned (Punda Maria, Kruger)
· December 2022: 47 white-backed vultures poisoned, 35 vultures decapitated for muti (KwaZulu-Natal)
· June 2023: 27 vultures poisoned (Zululand).
· June 2019: 537 vultures and two tawny eagles poisoned by elephant carcases (Botswana)
African vulture population decline over 50 years: 80–97%Leading causes of death: Poisoning 61%, belief-based use/trade 29%, collisions/electrocutions 9%
ThisWildEarth
Comments