Ten Cape Vultures sighted at Samara Private Game Reserve near Graaff-Reinet.
In what has been hailed as a significant conservation success, ten Cape Vultures (also known as Cape Griffons) were spotted feeding on a cheetah kill in the Samara Private Game Reserve. These magnificent birds of prey are classified by the IUCN as Endangered, with fewer than 10 000 remaining worldwide. According to Sarah Tompkins of Samara, which is dedicated to conservation and the promotion of ecotourism, vultures are critical determinants of healthy ecosystems.
“We are both excited and proud to see that ongoing conservation efforts, at Samara and by conservation programmes across Southern Africa, have yielded such encouraging results,” says Tompkins.
“Samara is firmly committed to conservation in Southern Africa and to the restoration of land in the Great Karoo and its unique flora and fauna. The return of Cape Vultures to this land is an important indicator that the local ecosystem is being repaired.”
According to the late Dr André Boshoff, a renowned expert in raptor ecology, there is evidence that before European settlement, thousands of Cape Vultures migrated westwards from their breeding sites in the Eastern Cape and Lesotho to make the most of the plains game that was attracted by the increased food supply after the Karoo’s summer rains.
Notably, one of the mountains on Samara is called ‘Aasvoelberg’ – Afrikaans for ‘Vulture Mountain’. In winter, the Cape Vultures would return to their breeding sites in the east.
Research has shown that mortality resulting from a range of human activities then substantially reduced these numbers by the turn of the 20th century. Lone birds had occasionally been spotted in the Graaff-Reinet area, and Samara had been witness to sightings of individual Cape Vultures three times over the past several years.
“It is thought that these individuals formed a tiny part of the past migration, so the return of a substantial group of 10 Cape Vultures is truly a victory for local conservation,” adds Tompkins.
Samara, a 70 000 acre restoration project, was established in 1997. Eleven overgrazed livestock farms were purchased, internal fencing was torn down and the land was allowed to rest. Over the years, indigenous wildlife was slowly reintroduced, from the first wild cheetah back in the region in 125 years to the desert adapted subspecies of the Critically Endangered black rhino.
In 2014, a leopard was spotted in a camera trap on the property. Persecuted for decades by farmers due to their perceived threat to livestock, the few leopards that remain in the region tend to stick to remote mountainous areas, where they roam across vast territories. The camera trap and subsequent spoor sightings have given hope that these incredible cats may one day return for good.
“We look forward to many more conservation successes in the coming years, which are important not only for the sustainability of this land, but also for the people and communities of the Eastern Cape and beyond,” says Tompkins.
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