NESTLED in the heart of Durban North’s Umgeni River Bird Park sits Bishop (7) and Loca (11), two King Vultures who have been paired up in the hope they would breed.
“We had the male vulture, Bishop, already. The female, Loca, was transferred here from Monte Casino Bird Gardens (under the same management as the Umgeni River Bird Park) when she started reaching her breeding age. It was obvious that Bishop or Loca had to move, but Loca eventually came to our bird park as our facilities were big enough to accommodate both birds,” said the park’s education manager, Grant Aggett-Cox.
Bishop and Loca were both show birds, but were removed from their shows as they reached their breeding age, in the hope that they would breed.
But it wasn’t love at first sight for Bishop and Loca, who sat on different perches for the first few weeks. Slowly they started moving closer together and are now almost inseparable.
“They haven’t had any chicks yet, but we’re hopeful that they will have next year. There’s also no guarantee that they will bond and breed, but things are looking better right now,” said manager at the park, Werner Marais.
The King Vulture is not indigenous to South Africa and are mostly from tropical rain forests in South America. Because of their colour, it is not easy to spot the birds as they sit high up in trees, which makes research into their numbers difficult. These vultures are currently ranked as least concern on the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.
“There are only five pairs of King Vultures in South Africa. Their numbers in the wild are declining due to habitat loss and poaching, so it’s best to breed them in captivity to safeguard the species,” Marais added.
With International Vulture Awareness Day on 6 September, the Umgeni River Bird Park invites residents to celebrate the vultures at the park, which include the King Vultures, the South African Cape Vulture and the Black Vulture.
Times Live reported in July last year that 49 dead and poisoned vultures were found on a farm in the Swartberg area of KwaZulu-Natal.
At the time, spokesman for the Endangered Wildlife Trust, Cobus Theron, said the carcasses were spotted by an Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal plane on the farm in the Swartberg area north of Kokstad on July 15.
The vultures, as well as some sheep, are believed to have been poisoned by a farmer in a bid to stop jackals hunting recently born lambs.
