Newsletter / Blog
2012-08-29 INTERNATIONAL VULTURE AWARENESS DAY – 1 SEPTEMBER 2012
The first
Saturday of September every year is observed as International Vulture Awareness
day by the Birds of Prey Programme (EWT-BoPP) of the Endangered Wildlife Trust,
its partners and associates including provincial conservation bodies and
several other NGOs involved in vulture research and conservation in South Africa.
The purpose of this day is to create awareness of the continued plight of all
vulture species and to highlight the work done by conservationists to monitor
populations and implement effective measures to conserve these birds and their
habitats.
“The day evolved from the Sasol National Vulture Awareness Day that has been
celebrated in South Africa since 2005” says the Manager of the EWT-BoPP, André
Botha. “This initiative received such interest from organisations elsewhere in
the world that the first international event was celebrated by 159
organisations representing 44 countries in 2011. We expect global support to be
even greater this year.”
South Africa
is home to no less than nine vulture species. Seven of these species are listed
in the Red Data Book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho
and Swaziland
(Barnes, 2000) as facing a certain degree of threat of extinction. The Bearded
Vulture Gypaetus barbatus, whose range in southern Africa is restricted to the
Maluti-Drakensberg mountains in South Africa
and Lesotho
is classified as “Endangered” and continues to decline in numbers due to a
range of factors. The Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres only occurs within southern
Africa and the conservation of this species
remains one of the main focal areas of the EWT-BoPP. Both the Hooded
Necrosyrtes monachus and African White-backed Vulture Gyps africanus were
up-listed to “Endangered” in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species during the
last 12 months. Other species, such as the Lappet-faced Torgos tracheliotus and
White-headed Trigonoceps occipitalis mostly occur in large conservation areas
in South Africa
and are listed as “Vulnerable”.
Vultures are faced with a range of threats such as poisoning, persecution,
electrocution and collision with power-lines, drowning in farm reservoirs in
drier parts of the country, shortage of safe food supplies and loss of suitable
habitat. The potential impact of indiscriminately placed wind-energy
installations is today recognised as a major emerging threat to large soaring
birds such as vultures. A considerable number of installations of this nature
are planned for South Africa
and it is imperative that the placement of such sites should consider and
attempt to avoid the potentially devastating impact that they may have on the
populations of these already threatened birds.
Recent research has shown that these birds are highly mobile and can cover
several 100 kilometres in a day in search of food. This makes the implementation
of effective conservation measures to benefit these species a daunting task,
which needs to be approached from a national, or more likely an international
perspective. In an attempt to address this in an African context, the
Pan-African Vulture Conservation Strategy was developed during 2012 and will be
implemented across the continent to attempt to address the alarming decline in
many populations of these birds.
The Endangered Wildlife Trust in collaboration with the VulPro and BirdLife
South Africa will be hosting a fun-filled
family day at the VulPro’s facilities near Hartbeespoort Dam. Activities will
include talks on vulture conservation, vulture feeding and lots of activities
for the children. You can contact André Botha at andreb@ewt.org.za, Kerri
Wolter at kerri.wolter@gmail.com,
or Ernst Retief at conservation.gauteng@birdlife.org.za for more information
on the day’s activities. A number of rehabilitation centres and vulture
restaurants in the country will also host special events and showing vultures
to members of the public.
For additional information please go to www.international-vulture-awareness-day.org
on how you can become involved.
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