On our last full day in Kruger Park (February 16th) we spent some quality time with a pride of Lions not far from Satara, along the famous S100 track, by a waterhole. When we got there a few cars had already assembled, but it wasn’t too bad. I managed to maneuver myself into a good […]
Tag: White-backed Vulture
Colorful Birds of Kruger Park
Watching Wood Pigeons and Blackbirds digging in the snow out of my window now, but my head and heart are still in South Africa. Luckily those images keep the memories fresh and warm. On February 16th we drove around Satara, to the south and to the east. We left very early, especially for big mammals. […]
Serengeti raptors
Mid-September in the Serengeti is early spring. This is too early for most of the raptor migrants, so we saw mainly residents. Migrants such as Steppe Eagles had not yet arrived. The raptors in the Serengeti at this time of the year were Tawny and Bateleur Eagles, Martial Eagles, Long Crested Eagles, an array of […]
POLL: Should veterinary Diclofenac be banned to save vultures?
Vultures are declining world-wide, but Europe used to be a safe place. 3 years ago this changed radically when approval was given to the commercialisation of veterinary diclofenac. Today, we launch a new international campaign in Spain, Portugal and Italy that aims to ban the drug that could wipe out Europe’s vultures… just as it […]
14 Incredible photos of African predators in action
Africa’s iconic predators—lions, leopards, hyenas, and wild dogs—are most known for being cunning, stealthy, and vicious. But these meat-eaters are often misunderstood. The fiercely loyal African wild dog lives in close-knit packs, caring for the babies of the matriarch and patriarch, communicating by touch, and nurturing those who are sick or injured. Vultures rarely attack […]
Africa’s reviled vultures are being hunted to the brink
Vultures are rarely viewed as the poster boys and girls of the natural world. They have repulsive eating habits and are strikingly ugly. Nevertheless, they play a critical role in maintaining the ecological health of many parts of the world. Vultures consume animal carcasses more effectively than any other scavengers and because their digestive juices […]
African vulture pilot study aims to reduce poisoning deaths
Saving Africa’s Vultures, a new project to tackle the continent’s escalating vulture crisis, is now up and running, with three initial, targeted pilot schemes in Botswana, Kenya and Zimbabwe that aim to find out more about – and significantly reduce – the greatest threat facing African vultures: poisoning. Eleven species of vulture occur in Africa, […]
Rüppell’s Vulture Sightings in Europe
After watching a huge flock of Griffon Vultures circling over the evergreen cork-oak canopy of the vast Alcornocales Parque Natural we eventually saw many birds descend down to the ground and out of sight. We could hear their hissing and squabbling and immediately knew that the birds were feeding at an animal carcass of some […]
Sabi Sands: February 2010 (Part 1)
Some of you may recall that I have been posting some WAY overdue trip reports on my blog as well. I am still far behind, but I thought it best to get going again…my last report was a series of posts on a trip with my wife to the Kruger National Park in 2009. Let’s […]
Europe approves vet drug that killed off almost all of Asia’s vultures
When Europeans first arrived in North America, they exterminated three to five billion passenger pigeons (Ectopistes migratorius) in the short span of a century through a combination of habitat destruction and hunting. In 1914, the last living passenger pigeon perished at the Cincinnati Zoo. Despite the staggering scale of this extinction event, three species of […]
