Wildlife ACT is worked up to share extra about our Southern Drakensberg Conservation Venture, which focuses on endangered vulture conservation on this lovely area of KwaZulu-Natal. The Venture, which falls below the our Vulture Conservation Programme, calls on volunteers from all over the world to help in day by day on-the-ground conservation efforts being made within the Southern Drakensberg area.
Regardless of being essential to our ecosystems, vulture numbers are in critical decline, with solely 50 to 100 breeding pairs of Bearded Vulture in South Africa and Lesotho and about 4,500 breeding pairs of Cape Vulture left in South Africa. Now welcoming volunteers, the Venture goals to additional native conservation efforts for endangered and precedence wildlife species, significantly the susceptible Cape Vulture and the regionally critically endangered Bearded Vulture.
Made doable by means of a collaboration between Wildlife ACT, the Drakensberg Conservation Initiative and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, this venture varieties a part of Wildlife ACT’s ongoing efforts to observe and shield endangered and precedence species and to help in efficient administration of protected areas. The endangered vulture conservation facet entails the monitoring of nesting websites, managing and sustaining secure vulture feeding websites, conducting a long-term distant digital camera trapping survey within the space, responding to emergency occasions, and extra.
“We’re excited concerning the Southern Drakensberg Conservation Venture and stay up for focusing some vital vitality on the regionally critically endangered Bearded Vulture,” says Chris Kelly, co-founder of Wildlife ACT. “Vultures play a essential function in sustaining wholesome ecosystems, and their decline is a critical concern. We hope to make a optimistic affect on the conservation of those magnificent birds inside the Southern Drakensberg area.”
Highlighting Vulture Conservation
The Southern Drakensberg Conservation Venture is primarily devoted to conserving vultures and defending the 2 cliff-nesting species of vulture discovered within the area – the Cape Vulture and Bearded Vulture – that are liable to extinction.
The Bearded Vulture is of explicit concern to the venture as a result of its regionally critically endangered standing on the IUCN Purple Record and a low inhabitants estimate of fifty to 100 breeding pairs in South Africa and Lesotho. Over the previous century, this species has skilled a major lower in numbers, leading to a geographically remoted inhabitants confined to the Maloti-Drakensberg mountain vary.
Vultures are subjected to a number of risks, together with poisoning, electrocution, collisions with vitality infrastructure, habitat loss, and meals shortages. Not solely are these birds important parts of the ecosystem, however in addition they possess a digestive system that comprises particular acids able to dealing with quite a few ailments which can be doubtlessly hazardous to human beings, making their safety critically necessary for stopping the unfold of illness.
“Vultures present important ecosystem providers in our pure, agricultural, and rural environments,” explains Wildlife ACT’s Vulture Conservation Programme Supervisor, Anel Olivier. “The necessary function they play within the biking of vitamins by means of the highly-efficient disposal of natural waste from the atmosphere is of utmost significance to human well being and environmental integrity. They’re tailored to effectively get rid of rotting flesh and bone, in addition to different natural waste, thereby lowering the unfold of illness amongst wildlife and livestock, in addition to abating the chance of pathogen spill-over to people.”
Vulture Conservation within the Maloti-Drakensberg Park World Heritage Website
The Southern Drakensberg Conservation Venture takes place each in and across the Maloti-Drakensberg Park World Heritage Website in South Africa, a vital stronghold for a number of threatened and endangered species. The Heritage Website is an enormous protected space spanning over 240,000 hectares and stretching alongside the border of South Africa and Lesotho. This protected space is dwelling to an unimaginable variety of crops and animals, together with over 2,000 species of crops and a wide range of uncommon and endangered animal species, together with the Cape and Bearded Vulture. It is a crucial website for endangered vulture conservation.
“One of many nice issues about this Venture is that it demonstrates the significance of conducting conservation work exterior of protected areas in addition to within them. We’re lucky to have numerous native landowners supporting conservation efforts by providing our staff entry to their properties with a view to monitor nests and conduct surveys. With out their help, we’d danger lacking out on important data,” says Phillip Swart, Precedence Species Monitor, Southern Drakensberg.
Be part of Wildlife ACT in Endangered Vulture Conservation
By Wildlife ACT’s Volunteer Mannequin, conservation fans from all over the world and all walks of life, are capable of help with essential on-the-ground conservation work in addition to important Venture funding. Volunteers are invited to this new Venture to expertise one thing utterly completely different. From climbing the World Heritage Website and viewing distinctive birdlife to being a part of revolutionary feeding websites and witnessing the extremely uncommon Bearded Vulture in flight; every little thing about this Venture gives a memorable expertise.
Throughout their time on the Venture, volunteers stay in a farmhouse located within the buffer-zone surrounding the Maloti-Drakensberg Park World Heritage Website, surrounded by breathtaking surroundings. Volunteers can anticipate to stay like an area and luxuriate in being immersed into the farming neighborhood of Underberg. Days finish off with a beer on the deck watching the solar fall behind the mountain-scapes as you pressure to listen to the nightlife come alive.
We stay up for welcoming you to the Southern Drakensberg Conservation Venture and know that you’ll fall in love with it, simply as we’ve. Click on right here to use and help endangered vulture conservation.
