Audubon hears update on African bearded vulture
By MARY ELIADES
Voice correspondent
FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE MARCH 25, 2025, ISSUE OF THE HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE VOICE. REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION.
HSV Audubon recently welcomed Margrit Harris to give an update on the fate of the bearded vultures of southern Africa. Harris originally spoke to the group in 2023, describing visits to her native South Africa and how she and her husband, Russ, became involved in conservation efforts there.
The Harrises first became interested in these endangered birds during a visit to the African Bird of Prey Sanctuary in South Africa in 2009, where they watched a fascinating “flight show” by Shannon Hoffman featuring raptors, including the African bearded vultures. Inspired by the experience and hoping to re-engage with her country and its wildlife, Margrit and Russ founded a public online charity, Nikela, to raise funds to save these beautiful and interesting birds.
They spent the next several years traveling throughout southern and eastern Africa, learning about wildlife conservation projects and meeting grass-roots activists.
The birds were driven to extinction in Europe, but Harris said breeding programs there have been very successful, adding that some of the programs have been in place for 50 years. From 1986 through 2024, 426 juvenile bearded vultures were released in Europe.
The Harrises were especially moved by the story of Leseli, a bearded vulture that had been kept in a chicken coop by a witch doctor until it was rescued by Hoffman. Hoffman built a habitat for Leseli, and this was the beginning of the bearded vulture breeding program, Bred4theWild.
Harris said the birds take seven to nine years to reach sexual maturity (and can reach 40 years of age), and the third generation of rescued birds was the first to be released into the wild. “It’s a huge commitment,” said Harris.
The birds lay two eggs, but only one survives; the second egg is harvested for breeding, and Harris showed photos and a video of the harvesting process. The birds nest on cliffsides in the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains and can only be reached by helicopter and rappelling. Hoffman’s team generally harvests five or six eggs every season and carefully transports them through rough terrain to the breeding center.
After hatching, the chicks are fed by a puppet, to keep them from imprinting on a human.
When the Harrises first met Hoffman and her beloved birds, the center was in a warm, humid area – not ideal for the birds, who are usually found in mountainous regions. Because of problems with the leased land – poaching and building encroachment – as well as the climate conditions, Hoffman decided to move the center to a higher altitude, to a reserve fairly close to Durban in the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains. Not all of the birds were able to be moved, due to age or health condition, but the remaining vultures are in their new home. Harris said the target is to release 16 breeding pairs in 2025.
For more information on Bred4theWild, visit https://bred4thewild.com.