Majestic Vultures, Kings of the Sky

The image of vultures gliding above, their outstretched wings with fingerlike tips reaching up to capture the rays of the sun, is nothing short of majestic. The 22 species of vultures are large and impressive birds that live on all continents except Antarctica. These birds of prey use their sizable wings, which span from 6 to 10 feet (1.8 to 3 meters), to ride air currents in search of their next meal of carrion. There is no waste when vultures come to feed.
Ancient cultures revered vultures, using their likeness on pottery, textiles and rock paintings, and incorporating them into Egyptian and Hindu religions. While modern societies may view vultures differently, we accept their role in helping to keep the environment clean. 
ut these magnificent birds are also persecuted. There are cases of direct slaughter of vultures and mass destruction of their populations. The use of poisons, like the pesticide Carbofuran, continues to cause mortality in wild vulture populations in Africa and Asia. 
At the same time, consumption of veterinary drugs administered to livestock that vultures then scavenge upon can kill them. One such drug, Diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory medicine that benefits livestock but causes kidney failure and death in vultures, is thought to have devastated South Asian vulture populations that once numbered in the millions in the skies over India and Pakistan.
Richard Cuthbert, Wildlife Conservation Society's Papua New Guinea program country director, has worked on issues surrounding the conservation of vultures for more than a decade and is the lead author of a recently published paper in the journal Oryx. Cuthbert says work by the Bombay Natural History Society and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has demonstrated that the use of Diclofenac to treat cattle in India persists, despite the veterinary ban on its use in India, Nepal and Pakistan in 2006. Moreover, the study shows that another emerging veterinary drug, Nimesulide, is also toxic to vultures in the region, presenting further concerns for this globally threatened group of species.
Known for their 10-foot (3 m) wingspan, Andean condors are among the largest birds in the world. They fly among the high peaks and grassy plains throughout the Andes, Patagonia, and coastal regions of western South America — up to 150 miles (241 kilometers) a day in search of carrion, which they locate primarily by sight. As a result of habitat loss, mortality resulting from preying on poisoned carcasses, collision with power lines and hunting by people who believe the birds attack livestock, Andean condors' numbers are declining, especially in the northern part of their range. WCS is bringing conservationists together from across South America to evaluate the Andean condor distribution and threats, and to prioritize their conservation sites as a first step toward developing a conservation strategy for this flagship species of the Andes. (Credit: Julie Larsen Maher ©WCS.)