In a promising leap for endangered vulture species in South Africa, conservation organisation Vulpro has announced the hatching of twenty vulture chicks at Shamwari Private Game Reserve during its second breeding season at the new facility.
Described as a “major milestone for vulture conservation in South Africa,” the success is evidence that the translocated birds are thriving following their relocation from Hartebeespoort in 2023. With the breeding season running until mid-August, more chicks are expected.
“Vultures only lay one egg per year during breeding season, that’s it,” explains Kerri Wolter, CEO of Vulpro. “Cape Vultures only reach sexual maturity at approximately seven years old, White-backed Vultures a little earlier and can be from five years, Lappet-faced Vultures often longer than seven years. With such low reproductive rates, we cannot sustain the current losses.”
Even in ideal wild conditions, “survival rates from egg to adult hover around just 5%.” Combined with human-induced threats such as poisoning and powerline collisions, the situation is bleak.
“It’s important to note that when vultures reduce to critical levels, they also stop breeding,” shares Wolter. “We need to prevent that whilst simultaneously addressing the threats.”
World’s Largest African Vulture Captive Breeding Programme
The recent births are part of Vulpro’s Captive Breeding Programme, which began in 2015 and now includes approximately 300 birds, making it “the world’s largest African vulture Captive Breeding Programme.”
The programme uses only non-releasable vultures, many of which have been injured by collisions with powerlines or wind turbines.
“What’s so special about our programme,” says Wolter, “is that all our non-releasable disabled birds are able to still have value. They’re not just sitting in an enclosure being viewed or kept on an asset register with a price tag on their heads, they are used to contribute to their wild counterparts’ survival.”
This model avoids removing healthy birds from the wild, instead relying on injured individuals to help their species persist.
“The captive breeding of vultures was never formally recognised as a conservation tool in South Africa, prior to us launching our programme. We spent years following the USA and European captive breeding initiatives learning, refining and growing our work with the full understanding and knowledge that, should a crisis hit Africa, our Breeding Programme could become a lifeline in preventing some vulture species’ extinctions. Fast-forward ten years and the threat of extinction is on our doorstep with some species showing localised extinctions in South Africa,” reveals Wolter.
Wolter describes the breeding population as “a national asset” and one of the most important for some African vulture species. The birds are drawn from across the region to maximise genetic diversity.
The Delicate Art of Breeding Vultures
Breeding vultures in captivity requires close monitoring and a deep understanding of their behaviour.
“Sometimes they fight over who’s breeding the chick or who’s incubating the egg. They fight for those responsibilities,” observes Wolter. “To me, that is quite cute. Breeding always shows me how fragile and how gentle they are.”
Vulpro uses techniques like double clutching, in which an egg is removed to stimulate the birds to lay a second. Once hatched, chicks are carefully returned to their biological parents.
“The importance of any Captive Breeding Programme is very, very stringent record keeping,” emphasises Wolter. “You know which egg, and which chick needs to go back to which pair.”
The organisation also draws on cautionary lessons from Asia’s vulture crisis.
“If anything, what we learned from that Breeding Programme is that it is never too early to start a founding population of species before you have to take birds out of the wild,” explains Wolter. “The success of your Breeding Programme takes years to nurture.”
Gentle Giants
Wolter notes that the birds’ prehistoric appearance belies their nature.
“You have these big dinosaur, big prehistoric type birds, and you would never consider that they would gently incubate an egg without crushing it,” she reflects. “They’re so incredibly gentle, and to me, that is just a beautiful message as to how terrifying these birds can look and seem, and yet they are very gentle beings and peaceful beings.”
Looking Ahead
The breeding success at Shamwari strengthens Vulpro’s position as a leading force in African vulture conservation. The birds born here represent hope for their species’ future.
“Young vultures released from the Programme at around nine months old carry with them the hopes of an entire species, living proof that sometimes the most vulnerable can help save their own kind.”
Vulpro continues its broader work through rescue, rehabilitation, research, population monitoring and education.
Learn more or support the programme at www.vulpro.com.
