Rescued birds a right pair
CAPE vultures Horace and Cites may not be love birds‚ but they are a match made in heaven.
Lonely Horace – the first member of the Crocworld Conservation Centre’s vulture conservation and breeding programme – was recently introduced to the young Cites‚ a juvenile Cape vulture which was rescued in the Oribi Gorge area in February‚ after colliding with a power line.
Cites was so badly injured her left wing had to be amputated.
Cape vultures are only found in southern Africa and are on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List as an endangered species.
The species is declining rapidly because of the threat of power lines‚ poisoning‚ destruction of habitat and use in traditional practices.
The fact that Cites had only one wing made her a perfect mate for sub-adult Horace‚ the general manager of Crocworld at Scottburgh on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast, Martin Rodrigues, said.
“His story is similar to hers – he flew into a power line and had to have his wing amputated, but in his case it was the right wing.
“They are two halves that together make a whole bird. It’s a match made in heaven.”
Crocworld is working with the Raptor Rescue Rehabilitation Centre in Pietermaritzburg to get the breeding programme off the ground.
The centre rescues‚ rehabilitates and releases injured‚ ill and distressed birds of prey but is unable to keep birds on a permanent basis.
“That’s where we come in‚” Rodrigues said.
“We have built an enclosure to house vultures that‚ for whatever reason‚ can never be released.
“These birds would otherwise be put down. We are giving them a chance at life and in doing so giving them the opportunity to mate and contribute to saving their species.”
All offspring from the programme will be released back into the wild.
There was not a single hitch in the introduction between the two young vultures.
Crocworld’s vulture breeding programme has space for six vultures.