S-African breeding plan makes room for new baby vultures
(MENAFN) Twenty vulture chicks have hatched this breeding season at South Africa’s Shamwari Private Game Reserve, marking a significant milestone for vulture conservation efforts. This success follows last year’s relocation of 160 vultures by VulPro, South Africa’s leading vulture conservation group, from Hartebeespoort to specially designed enclosures at Shamwari.
VulPro CEO Kerri Wolter highlighted the challenge of vulture reproduction, noting that vultures lay only one egg per year, making it difficult to sustain populations amid ongoing threats. She warned that populations might cease breeding if numbers drop too low and emphasized the need to address these dangers urgently.
The breeding season runs from July 1 to mid-August, with more hatchlings expected in the coming weeks. VulPro’s program uses non-releasable vultures—birds permanently injured, often by powerline collisions but still capable of breeding.
Since 2007, VulPro has recorded alarming vulture mortality rates. Between 2020 and 2025, at least 191 vultures from three species—Cape, White-backed, and Lappet-faced—have been injured or killed by powerlines, with about 40 deaths per year and an average of three per month. The group has documented 473 such incidents, though actual numbers may be higher due to underreporting.
Wolter described recent emergencies involving vultures suffering severe burns, broken wings, and other injuries from collisions with power infrastructure.
In May, VulPro and the Wild and Free Rehabilitation Centre reported a major poisoning event at Lionspruit Game Reserve near Marloth Park, which killed over 100 vultures, including 92 White-backed vultures—most of them breeding adults—along with Hooded and White-headed vultures.
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