Rüppell’s Vulture Gyps rueppelli
Critically endangered
Algeria; Benin; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Côte d’Ivoire; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya; Mali; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; Senegal; Somalia; South Sudan; Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania, United Republic of; Togo; Uganda
This vulture frequents open areas of Acacia woodland, grassland and montane regions, and it is gregarious, congregating at carrion, soaring together in flocks and breeding mainly in colonies on cliff faces and escarpments at a broad range of elevations. In Kenya, the number of nests at a colony may be inversely related to rainfall in the previous year, and timing of nesting varies from year to year (Virani et al. 2012). It locates food entirely by sight.
The Ruppell’s Vulture has been alarmingly scarce in Africa but has been known to breed with Griffin Vultures in Spain.
The species faces similar threats to other African vultures, being susceptible to habitat conversion to agro-pastoral systems, loss of wild ungulates leading to a reduced availability of carrion, hunting for trade, persecution and poisoning (Ogada et al. 2016).
IUCN Red List
The Rüppell’s Vulture is critically endangered in #Africa due to complex threats incl. #palmoil #deforestation as well as the loss of its wild #ungulates prey. Support this bird with a #palmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
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Vulture Conservation Foundation
Further Information

BirdLife International. 2017. Gyps rueppelli (amended version of 2016 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22695207A118595083. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22695207A118595083.en. Downloaded on 15 February 2021.
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