Staff Reporter
A cross-border conservation programme aimed at saving southern Africa’s Critically Endangered Bearded Vulture has marked 20 years of work, with experts warning that only 20 breeding pairs could remain in the region without continued intervention.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife hosted the 20th Bearded Vulture Task Force celebration at Midmar Dam in Howick, last week.
The event was attended by Ezemvelo CEO Sihle Mkhize, strategic partners from Lesotho, representatives of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the Eastern Cape, NGOs and special guests.
The Bearded Vulture Task Force is the bilateral steering committee of the Bearded Vulture Recovery Programme, which has been coordinated by Ezemvelo since its inception.
The programme was established in 2006 after a week-long workshop at which experts modelled the species’ risk of extinction. Nest surveys in the early 2000s raised alarm that fewer pairs may have been breeding on the escarpment than previously thought.
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