21 January 2011
Hartbeespoort, North West Province, South Africa
Today was Vulture Capture #2, this time with rehabbed, non-releasable and releasable, Cape vultures at the Vulpro center. The vultures came to Vulpro for a variety of reasons. Some were injured in power line collisions and had broken wings that didn’t heal well enough to be released; some came in severely malnourished and needed proper nutrition; others had been caught in fences or were victims of the Muti trade (traditional cultural medicine).
We did much of the same testing as in the previous capture, but this time a focus was on whether or not the birds had been exposed to poisons or heavy metals. It was interesting to learn that the vultures that routinely come in from Thabazimbi (NW of Magaliesberg region) are usually underweight and weak- it’s not from power line collisions or obvious poisoning like in other regions. Today’s blood tests will hopefully help us determine whether or not there is a calcium deficiency or some other deficiency affecting the vultures’ diet in that region or if the vultures had been poisoned in some way. DDT is sprayed in that region and the vultures could have been affected by that. Of the 10 birds we caught up to test, 7 are strong enough to be released. I hope the weather clears up a bit so that I can be a part of such an amazing experience!
Vulture catch-up in the morning.
After the capture this morning, we set off to Pretoria to meet veterinarians and vet students at the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Pretoria. They did a check up on a vulture that was found on Christmas Day, caught in a fence with a couple severe holes in its right wing. The injuries were healing nicely, but needed a few stitches. The veterinary department at the University of Pretoria provides a lot of medical care for Vulpro and is a great partner in Vulpro’s conservation work.
Check up on the vulture's healing wing.
While we were there, they gave us a black-shouldered kite that was found caught in a glue trap. Its wings were covered in the nasty glue. Treatment involves the completely simple and brilliant act of powdering the feathers with baby powder to cut the stickiness of the glue. The bird will then preen the glue out on its own. It’s much better than having to cut the feathers and wait for months for them to grow back. So we brought him back to Vulpro and let him out in one of the raptor enclosures until he is ready to be released.
Black-shouldered Kite.
Right when I was releasing the kite into its new enclosure, a wild Cape vulture flew into the field with the vulture enclosures. He caused quite a stir amongst the captive vultures as they all ran over to the side where he landed and to check him out. He was likely drawn in because of their food.
Vulture visitor.
Walter Neser of Vulpro is testing out a camera that mounts on the back of a vulture and takes video of the vulture’s activities. The perfect candidate for this is a 4 year old, hand-raised, female Cape who they are training to fly. She looks at Walter as a mate and she lets him touch her and pick her up and she follows him everywhere. It’s so fun to watch! We fitted her with the camera to see how the harness fit and we will start working with her in a couple of days as well as some of the other vultures and raptors who are good training candidates. I’m very excited to explore the possibilities!
It was a great variety of things to do today and helpful insight into the lives of Kerri and Walter and all they are doing to help save vultures and other raptors in Africa. It’s truly an inspiration to be here working with them!
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