Red Data Books or RDBs are lists of threatened plants and animals specific to a certain region. They are a vital source of information in guiding conservation decisions.
Established in 1973, the Vulture Study Group (VSG) has grown into an effective, international organisation devoted to both new and old world vulture conservation, research and education. It is focused on the continued existence of free-living populations of vultures on Planet Earth. The VSG’s conservation philosophy is based on the idea that a group of concerned humans can take on the responsibility of caring for a group of threatened species, and implement measures necessary to ensure that those species do not become extinct. Its mission is to further the cause of vulture conservation through the facilitation of research, conservation action and communication both in southern Africa and abroad.
Why Conserve Vultures?
Vultures are the ‘big-game’ of the bird world, and take up a key position between mammals and birds in the wildlife spectrum. Whether wheeling around in thermals above the African veld, or fighting and jostling at the carcass of a dead animal, vultures certainly provide one of nature’s most awe-inspiring sights.
Vultures have an important biological role to play in the ecology of any ecosystem. They help keep the veld clean of rotting carcasses and reduce diseases by quickly disposing of dead animals, which would otherwise serve as disease-hosts. By rapidly disposing of rotting corpses, they reduce the number of carcasses-consuming flies. Vultures are effective in alerting farmers to the presence of dead animals and are an economical way of disposing of carcasses.
In areas where vultures disappeared many years ago, the ecological cycles are at a loss without these scavenging birds and therefore cannot be completed successfully. It is therefore important to ensure that existing populations do not perish, but rather prosper so that they can repopulate areas where vultures no longer occur.
