RAPTOR TAXON ADVISORY GROUP
  • Home
  • Newsletter
  • Resources
    • Education >
      • Vulture Education
      • Year of the Bird
      • Raptors as Program Animals
    • Events
    • Issues >
      • Microtrash
      • Vulture Crisis >
        • Asian Vulture Crisis
        • African Vulture Crisis
      • Lead Poisoning
      • Rat poison
    • Position Statements
    • Training
    • Enrichment
    • Husbandry >
      • Husbandry Idea Gallery
      • Husbandry Products
      • TAG Manuals
  • raptors
    • Vultures >
      • African Vultures >
        • Cape Vulture SSP
        • Lappet-Faced Vulture SSP
        • Hooded Vulture SSP
        • Ruppell’s Griffon SSP
        • White-Backed Vulture SSP
      • Asian Vultures >
        • Eurasian Black Vulture SSP
      • New World Vultures >
        • Andean Condor SSP
        • California Condor SSP
        • King Vulture SSP
    • Eagles >
      • Steller's Sea Eagle SSP
      • Harpy Eagle (Candidate)
    • Falcons >
      • African Pygmy Falcon SSP
    • Hawks
    • Secretary Bird SSP
    • Owls >
      • Burrowing Owl SSP
      • Eurasian Eagle Owl SSP
      • Snowy Owl SSP
      • Spectacled Owl SSP
      • Verreaux's Eagle Owl SSP
  • Conservation
    • African vulture SAFE program
    • Egyptian Vultures in Oman
    • Bird Window Strikes
  • T-Shirt Store
  • About
    • Contact

Rüppell's  Vulture

Gyps rueppelli
Photo: Mel Hall, Disney's Animal Kingdom
  • Natural History
  • SSP
  • Organizations
<
>

Conservation Status

IUCN: Critically endangered
CITES: Appendix II

Habitat

  • Open woodlands, savannahs, and sometimes mountainous regions.

Diet

  • Exclusively eats carrion
  • Obligate scavenger

Characteristics

  • Highest-flying birds in the world
  • Average wingspan: 8 feet (2.4 meters)
  • Average height: 33-38 inches (84-97 centimeters)
  • Average lifespan: 40-50 years
  • Gregarious

Range and Distribution

  • According to IUCN, Ruppell’s are native to: 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; Tanzania, United Republic of; Togo; and Uganda, and vagrant to: Botswana; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Egypt; Lesotho; Mozambique; Namibia; Portugal; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Spain; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.

Reproduction

  • Nest most often on cliff faces
  • 1 egg per clutch
  • Average incubation period of 55 days
  • Both parents rear chick equally
  • Chicks fledge at roughly 150 days

 Conservation Issues

  • Visit the African Vulture SAFE page for more information on the African Vulture Crisis
  • According to Ogada et al. (2016), the projected population decline in Rüppell’s griffon vultures is 97% within 3 generations. 
  • The largest threat facing vultures is poisoning, primarily via agricultural pesticides. The main sources of poisoned carcasses are a) elephants or rhinos killed by poaching whose carcasses are poisoned to deter circling vultures from giving away the location of poaching events, b) large predators such as lions that were poisoned in retribution for killing livestock, and c) feral dogs that were poisoned in an effort to curb their population growth. The trade in traditional medicine and collisions with electrical infrastructure are also important causes of population decline.
​Date of Last PVA/B&T Plan
Current Population Size (N)
Current Number of Participating AZA Member Institutions
Projected % GD at 100 Years or 10 Generations
SSP Program Designation
5 Year Target Population Size
Space Needed (Target population minus current space)
Recent 5 Year Population Trend (increasing, decreasing, or stable)
5/10/2017
​61
​15
75.8%
Yellow SSP
75
75-61 = 14
Increasing
Picture
Sustainability Report (updated 8/16/17)



Picture
Studbook (updated 1/28/16)



Picture
Population Analysis & Breeding & Transfer Plan (updated 6/27/17)



Officers

Name
Organization
Position
Bryan Emberton
Christine Barth ​
Taylor Rubin
​
Kyra Thurow
Disney's Animal Kingdom
​Disney's Animal Kingdom
Zoo Atlanta
​Greenville Zoo
SSP Program Leader ​​& Studbook Keeper 
SSP Vice Program Leader
Education Advisor
​Education Advisor
Picture
Vulture Conservation Foundation
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Newsletter
  • Resources
    • Education >
      • Vulture Education
      • Year of the Bird
      • Raptors as Program Animals
    • Events
    • Issues >
      • Microtrash
      • Vulture Crisis >
        • Asian Vulture Crisis
        • African Vulture Crisis
      • Lead Poisoning
      • Rat poison
    • Position Statements
    • Training
    • Enrichment
    • Husbandry >
      • Husbandry Idea Gallery
      • Husbandry Products
      • TAG Manuals
  • raptors
    • Vultures >
      • African Vultures >
        • Cape Vulture SSP
        • Lappet-Faced Vulture SSP
        • Hooded Vulture SSP
        • Ruppell’s Griffon SSP
        • White-Backed Vulture SSP
      • Asian Vultures >
        • Eurasian Black Vulture SSP
      • New World Vultures >
        • Andean Condor SSP
        • California Condor SSP
        • King Vulture SSP
    • Eagles >
      • Steller's Sea Eagle SSP
      • Harpy Eagle (Candidate)
    • Falcons >
      • African Pygmy Falcon SSP
    • Hawks
    • Secretary Bird SSP
    • Owls >
      • Burrowing Owl SSP
      • Eurasian Eagle Owl SSP
      • Snowy Owl SSP
      • Spectacled Owl SSP
      • Verreaux's Eagle Owl SSP
  • Conservation
    • African vulture SAFE program
    • Egyptian Vultures in Oman
    • Bird Window Strikes
  • T-Shirt Store
  • About
    • Contact