Understanding Movements to Protect Africa’s Vultures
At VulPro, we monitor the journeys of wild, rehabilitated, and captive-bred vultures across southern Africa using coloured leg bands, wing tags, and tracking devices. This important data helps us understand their survival rates, foraging ranges; identify roosting, breeding, feeding, and bathing/drinking sites, as well as land-use preferences, not to mention the identification of new and existing threats. This also allows us to detect injuries or fatalities, enabling swift responses and targeted conservation actions to mitigate threats.
Coloured Leg Bands and Wing Tags
For decades, we have used leg bands, wing tags, and SAFRING metal rings to track vultures through direct observations with the help of citizen scientists and the general public. These markers are applied in several ways:
- Wild-caught vultures: Fitted with coloured leg bands for research purposes.
- Chicks: Fitted with rings at their breeding nesting sites, on cliffs and trees.
- Rehabilitated vultures: Fitted with coloured leg bands for identification and for post monitoring once released.
- Captive-bred vultures: Fitted with rings for identification and stringent record keeping as well as post monitoring once released.
Each vulture’s band number is logged in a comprehensive database, along with its life history. For captive-bred individuals, we track parentage, hatch dates, and release details. For rehabilitated birds, we document rescue locations, injury types, rehabilitation processes, and release histories.
This data is invaluable for identifying threats and shaping conservation strategies, empowering researchers, landowners, and the public to collaborate in protecting vultures.
Reporting Sightings
If you spot a banded vulture, record the following details, and share them with us:
- Band number and colours
- Species (if known)
- Date, time, and location (with coordinates if possible)
- Landowner and your contact details
- Bird behaviour and condition
- Total number of birds present
- Notes or photos of the sighting
Send sightings to research@vulpro.com — your report could uncover vital information about a vulture’s journey.
What to record
- Tag number and colours
- Species (if known)
- Date
- Time
- Name of locality
- Co-ordinates of locality
- Landowner name and contact details
- Your name and contact details
- Bird behaviour and condition
- Total number of birds present
- Additional notes
- Photograph of tagged individuals if possible
Satellite and or GSM/GPS Tracking
VulPro tries, where possible, to fit as many birds in hand with tracking devices, this includes wild caught for research purposes and where there are specific research questions pertinent to the conservation of the species, rehabilitated birds for release to monitor the success of our work and the birds survival and thirdly, every captive-bred vulture which is released by VulPro is fitted with a tracker. These devices provide daily updates on:
Survival Integration into the wild
- Movements and foraging ranges
- Flight speed, altitude, and air temperature
- Time spent at specific locations
- Mortality detection
Vulture tracking has revolutionised our understanding of vulture behaviour and helped us respond quickly to threats, such as detecting injuries and fatalities from the numerous threats vultures face.
By tracking vultures, we are not only protecting these majestic birds but also safeguarding the ecosystems they support.
Join us in conserving Africa’s vultures — every sighting matters and will make a difference.