Scavengers

Stephen took a westward fork in the road and very soon we were climbing, perhaps on to the Oloololo escarpment. In the lovely morning light I was watching the open low land on the other side when The Family pointed at a small wake of vultures ahead. We’d spotted many vultures in the morning, sitting on top of trees, often solitary, sometimes in companionable silence. This wake was noisy.

When we came closer, Stephen pointed out the critically endangered Rüppell’s griffon vulture (also called Rüppell’s vulture, Gyps rueppelli) . They were large and easily recognized by the dark face with a yellow-tipped beak. They had yellow eyes and feathers which gave the appearance of being scaly. I watched as one took off with a long run. It gained height very slowly, probably overloaded with wildebeest meat. It was hard to believe that they are champion flyers, having been spotted flying about 11 kilometers above sea level. There are less than 22,000 individuals left, spread across sub-Saharan Africa, as far south as Tanzania. Since there are several protected areas on their range, they are not likely to disappear immediately. But these immense champions are right there on the slippery slope to extinction. I thought to myself that my youngest niece will probably see them, but maybe not her children.

There was another species at the wake, the immense lappet-faced vulture (also called Nubian vulture, Torgos tracheliotos). This species is easily recognized by its bare red face, with lappets. Although its range encompasses all of Africa except the Sahara and the coast North of it, and central Africa, it is said to be endangered since there are no more than 5,700 adults. Trade in this species is banned internationally, and there are conservation and education efforts on around most of the protected areas in its range. I hope that some of these efforts pay off, but I am not very hopeful.