Rüppell's Vulture

Distribution

Their range extends through the Sahel region of Africa where they can be found in grasslands, mountains, and woodlands. Once considered common in these habitats, the Rüppell's vultures are experiencing steep declines, especially in the Western portion of their range. They are relatively slow birds, cruising at 35 kilometres per hour (22 mph), but fly for 6–7 hours every day and will fly as far as 150 kilometres (93 mi) from a nest site to find food.

Description

These are large vultures, noticeably outsizing the closely related white-backed vulture, with which they often occur in the wild. Adults are 85 to 103 cm (33 to 41 in) long, with a wingspan of 2.26 to 2.6 metres (7.4 to 8.5 ft), and a weight that ranges from 6.4 to 9 kg (14 to 20 lb). Both sexes look alike: mottled brown or black overall with a whitish-brown underbelly and thin, dirty-white fluff covering the head and neck. The base of the neck has a white collar, the eye is yellow or amber, the crop patch deep brown. The head does not have feathers. This is an adaptation that occurred because of the Rüppell vulture's tendency to stick its head inside of its prey when eating. Without the adaptation, feeding would become extremely messy. Silent as a rule, they become vocal at their nest and when at a carcass, squealing a great deal. Rüppell's vultures commonly fly at altitudes as high as 6,000 metres (20,000 ft). The birds have a specialized variant of the hemoglobin alpha^D subunit; this protein has a great affinity for oxygen, which allows the species to absorb oxygen efficiently despite the low partial pressure in the upper troposphere. A Rüppell's vulture was confirmed to have been ingested by a jet engine of an airplane flying over Abidjan, Ivory Coast on November 29, 1973 at an altitude of 11,300 m (37,000 ft). During August 2010 a Rüppell's vulture escaped a bird of prey site in Scotland, prompting warnings to pilots in the area to watch carefully due to the danger of collision.

Social

Rüppell's vultures are very social, roosting, nesting, and gathering to feed in large flocks.

Feeding

Rüppell's vultures have several adaptations to their diet and are specialized feeders even among the Old World vultures of Africa. They have an especially powerful build and, after the most attractive soft parts of a carcass have been consumed, they will continue with the hide, and even the bones, gorging themselves until they can barely fly. They have backward-pointing spikes on the tongue to help remove meat from bone. Despite their size, power and adaptations, they are not the most dominant vulture in their range, which is considered to be the even larger lappet-faced vulture.

Reproduction

This species of vulture is considered to be monogamous, forming lifelong breeding pairs. After courtship the pair will work together to build a nest using sticks, grass, and leaves that they have gathered or stolen from other nests. Rüppell's vultures build these nests on cliffs, and in key breeding areas they are known to nest in large colonies containing hundreds of breeding pairs. Both parents share in incubation of their egg over a period of 55 days. Once the chick hatches, both parents will feed and tend to it for about 150 days when it fledges. Young remain dependent on their parents after fledging, not reaching independence until the next breeding season. During this time they learn how to find and compete for food.

Status

Since first being assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature during 1988, populations of Rüppell's vulture have decreased. The species has been listed with an IUCN Red List status of "near threatened" since 2007 and the IUCN predicts that populations of the species will continue to decrease. From 2012 to 2014 the Rüppell's vulture was listed as Endangered; however, the species was reassessed in 2015 and was declared Critically Endangered.

The Rüppell's vulture is currently listed as an Appendix II species under CITES, which regulates the international trade of animals and plants. Under this designation, the Rüppell's vulture is defined as not being immediately at risk of extinction, although the current population could become threatened without a careful regulation of trade.

The total population of Rüppell's vulture has been estimated to be somewhere around 22,000 individuals, with specific populations in the following areas: Tanzania (3,000 pairs); Kenya (2,000 pairs); Ethiopia (2,000 pairs); Sudan (2,000 pairs); and West Africa (2,000 pairs).

Since 1992, Rüppell's vulture has been occurring as a vagrant in Spain and Portugal, with annual records since 1997, mainly in the Cadiz / Straits of Gibraltar area, but also further north.

Threats

Rüppell's vulture populations are experiencing declining populations throughout their entire range. These declines can be attributed to loss of habitat related to human-related land use, poisoning, human use for medicine or meat, loss of nesting sites, and declining availability of food sources. Poisoning is currently thought to be the most serious threat to all vulture populations in Africa, although they are not usually the intended target. In events where predators such as lions or hyenas have killed livestock, carbofuran poisons have been placed into carcasses as retaliation against the predators. Unfortunately, vultures utilize carrion as their main food source and one carcass has the potential to attract hundreds of birds to feed because this species identifies food by sight. One evaluation of 10 poisoning events found that each event caused the death of 37 to 600 individuals.

Killing of Rüppell's vultures for use in medicine has also greatly contributed to the rapid population decline. In many African cultures, vultures are used for medicine and magic related to superstitions that they are clairvoyant and can be used to increase a child's intelligence. Establishing protected wildlife areas is thought to be an effective route to protect the Rüppell's vulture from extinction. The Rüppell's vulture breed and nests in cliffs in northern and southern Kenya, as well as Tanzania. These breeding and nesting grounds amass huge numbers of Rüppell's vultures which will raise young and forage in the surrounding area. Considering that the detection rate of Rüppell's vultures was found to be lower in protected areas than outside of them, extending protection to these key breeding sites could help support their population.