During the 2025 Zululand Vulture Project Aerial Survey, a team of conservationists confirmed the very first active Hooded Vulture nest ever recorded in KwaZulu-Natal. The discovery is not only a provincial milestone but also the southernmost breeding site documented for this Critically Endangered species. The survey, carried out by Wildlife ACT in partnership with Ezemvelo...
Vultures may not be the most glamorous of Africa’s raptors, but their role is vital. By stripping carcasses clean, they prevent the spread of deadly diseases like anthrax, botulism and rabies. Without them, ecosystems and human communities alike would be at risk. Yet across Africa, these ancient birds are vanishing at an alarming rate. On...
Cape Town, South Africa – 26 August 2025 – Conservation organisations BirdLife South Africa and SANCCOB have raised serious concerns following the announcement of new ship-to-ship fuel transfer regulations, which have been described by some as a lifeline for the endangered African Penguin. Feature image: African penguins, admitted to SANCCOB Cape St Francis Centre following...
Mpumalanga, South Africa – In a pioneering move for avian conservation and renewable energy, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) has launched South Africa’s first state-sponsored bird-tracking initiative focused on informing safer wind energy development in the ecologically sensitive province of Mpumalanga. Dubbed the Mpumalanga Bird Flyways Research Project, the initiative emerges as a reconciliation of conservation science and renewable...
Appeal to fishermen to not discard fishing line. The discovery of an entangled Water Thick-knee at the end of July 2025 on the beach at Mtunzini (KZN) has prompted me to once again appeal to fishermen to be careful and not to discard fishing line, or to at least pick up and remove any line that they may...
2 July 2025, Johannesburg — In a rare conservation success story, the White-winged Flufftail, one of Africa’s most elusive and threatened birds, has been downlisted from Critically Endangered to Endangered in South Africa, thanks to over a decade of innovative research and fieldwork led by BirdLife South Africa with support from the Middelpunt Wetland Trust. Feature image of a White-winged...
Blouberg Nature Reserve, Limpopo – July 2025 An education initiative led by vulture conservation organisation Vulpro is showing promising signs of success in curbing the illegal killing of vultures for traditional medicine practices around Blouberg Nature Reserve in Limpopo. The reserve hosts South Africa’s largest breeding colony of Cape Vultures, a species under severe threat....
Window collisions and cats kill more birds than wind farms do, but ornithologists say turbine impacts must be taken seriously. Scientists are testing a range of technologies to reduce bird strikes — from painting stripes to using artificial intelligence — to keep birds safe.By Adam Welz This story was originally published by Yale Environment 360. Wind energy is...
A group of innovative young Rwandan naturalists—led by 19-year-old tourism graduate Joseph Desiré Dufitumukiza—has harnessed a free mobile app to record bird sounds and monitor species across the country. Since launching the Rugezi Ornithology Center in 2022, Dufitumukiza and his student volunteers have gathered over 120,000 bird-call recordings, which are stored at the University of...
Over three years, more than 137 ornithologists, conservationists, and citizen scientists compiled 193 detailed assessments to quantify extinction risk for the region’s birds. The new online Red Data Book (RDB-online) now includes an additional 70 endemic and near-endemic species still considered at lower risk, such as the Cape Sugarbird and Orange-breasted Sunbird. The findings are...
