A total of 123 vultures were found dead, on Tuesday morning, the 6 May 2025, in the Mahlangeni Section of the Kruger National Park.
About 102 of the total amount, are White-backed Vultures, 20 are Cape Vultures and One is a Lappet-faced Vulture. All of them are listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered species in the IUCN Red data records.
About 116 of the 123 Vultures, were found dead on the scene, by a joint team of SANParks rangers and Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) officials.
The incident was first detected by the EWT’s pioneering wildlife poisoning surveillance and detection system, which triggered an alert around 06:05am on the fateful day, flagging suspicious activity.
Within hours, a team arrived on the scene, and could rescue eighty-four (84) White-backed, Cape, and Hooded Vultures.
They were treated using emergency vulture first aid, including atropine, activated charcoal, and fluid therapy.
About 45 survivors were transported by the EWT’s vulture ambulance, a specialised mobile unit designed to stabilise poisoned birds en route to treatment facilities and 39 more were airlifted by helicopter to the SANParks K9 facility in Phalaborwa for immediate monitoring.
Five then succumbed to poisoning, leaving 83 alive and recovering.
In a statement, SANParks said the vultures were poisoned by a carcass of an elephant laced with highly toxic agrochemical pesticides, believed to have been used by poachers to harvest body parts for the illegal wildlife trade.
“This incident is a setback to the vulture population in the Greater Kruger Landscape which is trying to recover from similar incidents in the past.”
Picture of a White-backed Vultures, Phys.org