Durban - Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and other Project Vulture partners have applied to the European Outdoor Conservation Association for funding for a project to save the Maloti-Drakensberg’s threatened vultures.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife said their project was shortlisted with a few others from around the world.
“Our success in obtaining funding is dependent on public votes. Please could you support us and vote for our project using the following link,” Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife said.
Those who wish to vote can do so here.
According to the European Outdoor Conservation Association website, spring voting will run from April 20, 2022, to May 4, 2022.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s project is the second on the list, titled “Maloti-Drakensberg’s Vanishing Vultures, South Africa”.
According to its website, the Maloti-Drakensberg Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site, represents the last, southernmost stronghold for the region’s critically endangered bearded vulture.
There are fewer than 100 breeding pairs left in these mountains, which is also a vital site for the endangered Cape vulture. Threatened by poisoning, collisions with energy infrastructure and habitat loss, the population of vultures relies on livestock carcasses as most of their original wild food source has been lost.
The project will develop self-sustainable conservation hubs around hides and feeding sites to educate and empower community members and visitors, helping communities manage their land and livestock in vulture-friendly manners, and removing threats over 150 000 hectares.
Local vulture champions and monitors will manage each site, raising awareness of the conservation and economic/tourism value of vultures and other local wildlife.
River clean-ups and production of eco-bricks for the construction of hides will reduce pollution on at least 65km of sensitive highland river habitat, and reductions in the amount of grassland burning will improve soil, reduce erosion and improve carbon-sequestering capacities.
More information on the project can be accessed on project vulture.
Last year, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife had three rehabilitated vultures that they released in August in the Pongola Nature Reserve.
The vultures were fitted with tags and tracking units at Raptor Rescue near Camperdown.
Daily News