Caper Town – Two poisoning incidents earlier this year left hundreds of vultures dead, and now the government is warning that if the trend is unchecked, the loss of thousands of vultures could have devastating environmental and public health consequences.
In a statement on Monday, 6 October 2025, Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment Minister Dr. Dion George reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ensuring that vulture conservation remains a national priority.
South Africa is home to nine vulture species, but these vital birds are under threat.
Vultures play a crucial role in ecosystems by cleaning up carcasses, preventing the spread of disease, and keeping environments healthy.
Vultures, once widespread across Africa, have suffered severe population declines over the past three decades.
Many vultures die after feeding on carcasses laced with poison, among other threats, often left by poachers targeting elephants or rhinos, or by communities involved in human–wildlife conflict.
Minister George also called on South Africans to play an active role in protecting these critically important birds.
“This year alone, two mass poisoning incidents resulted in the deaths of hundreds of vultures,” said the minister.
“If these events continue unchecked, the loss of thousands of vultures could have devastating environmental and public health consequences.”
Minister George made his remarks in the lead-up to the Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP9) to the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) in November 2025.
He said the loss of vultures has far-reaching consequences: carcasses left to rot increase the risk of disease outbreaks, poor sanitation around rural settlements, rising stray dog populations, and greater incidences of human injuries and rabies fatalities.
Of the nine vulture species in South Africa, seven have established breeding populations that continue to face varying degrees of threats to extinction.
In a move to protect the vultures, the National Multi-Species Vulture Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP) was published on 18 March 2024.
This plan aims to protect and is now being implemented through the National Vulture Task Force (NVTF) and its subcommittees.
The desired state is to see all vultures fulfilling their essential ecosystem services through the achievement of a safe and secure environment in which all the components of a vulture’s life cycle are fulfilled.
This will be achieved through the reduction of the key threats facing the species (intentional and unintentional poisoning, interactions with energy infrastructure, habitat change), the improvement of stakeholder involvement, improving knowledge gaps, and developing best practice guidelines for ex situ, or off-site, conservation action.
South Africa, through the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, participated in a regional workshop convened by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), BirdLife International, and the rest of the region in commemorating International Vulture Awareness Day in early September.
It was at this workshop that the SADC Vulture Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (2025–2035) was also launched.
The VCSAP seeks to mobilise collective action among the 12 SADC vulture range states to address these complexities through coordinated conservation efforts, emphasising stakeholder engagement and data-driven decision-making.
The workshop not only highlighted the ongoing threats to vultures, including poisoning, collisions, and electrocutions from energy infrastructure, and habitat loss; but also the opportunities for internal and cross-border collaboration and cooperation to implement targeted actions, raise awareness, and strengthen legislation to secure the future of vultures.
Minister George. said South Africa is committed to the implementation of the SADC Vulture Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (2025–2035).
“Without decisive and coordinated action, several vulture species face the very real threat of extinction,” warned Minister George.
