Protecting the world’s vultures
This International Vulture Awareness Day, we celebrate these vital birds, our ongoing efforts to conserve them and identify the work that still needs to be done for the world’s most efficient scavengers.
Did you know a group of vultures resting on the ground or in a tree is called a ‘committee’ and a ‘kettle’ is a group of vultures in flight? These incredible birds can be misunderstood, but we know they are fascinating and vital members of their ecosystems.
Header image: Egyptian Vulture is an Old World vulture currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. © Alex7370/Shutterstock
By acting as clean-up operatives on decaying carcasses, vultures play an essential role in maintaining ecological balance in their habitats. This benefits nature and people – earlier this year, we published a new report showing the economic value of the ecosystem services provided by vultures in Southern Africa.
But this efficiency and feeding style also expose these birds to their biggest threat: poisoned carcasses. There are intentional cases, but many are a by-product of human actions not actually intended to harm vultures. Sick animals are treated with veterinary medicines called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), but these have the side-effect of turning any animal that then dies into a toxic meal for vultures.
While there are other issues – such as the killing of vultures to sell their bodies or parts of them as traditional medicine or for traditional healing practices and electrocution on energy infrastructure – poisoning is the main cause of drastic population declines.
No fewer than 11 of 16 African and Eurasian vulture species are globally threatened and classified as Critically Endangered or Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Asia’s vultures have suffered some of the fastest declines ever recorded. These birds face the threat of extinction in our lifetimes.
That’s why BirdLife and our Partners are working to conserve vultures, with ongoing efforts across Africa and Asia. For example, we have established networks of local guardians with our Partner Nature Kenya, engaged local communities with Nature Tanzania and Nature Rwanda, and launched conservation action plans for vultures in Africa.
The Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction (SAVE) consortium includes BirdLife International and our national Partners Bombay Natural History Society (India), Bird Conservation Nepal, NatureLife Cambodia and the RSPB (UK). Together, this partnership has been working to conserve vultures in Asia for more than 20 years, achieving bans on NSAIDs across the region.
For many years, BirdLife has been pushing for a strong intergovernmental policy on the veterinary use of NSAIDs, with a resolution on their use and regulation adopted by the UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) in 2020.
In March 2026, the Convention meets at CMS COP15 and will consider new conservation measures to reduce the threats to vultures, including the lethal use of NSAIDs and illegal killing of birds for trade in body parts.
“We hope that this letter sends an important message ahead of CMS COP15 for CMS to include the vulture range states India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Spain and Italy.”
Vinayagan Dharmarajah, Regional Director of BirdLife Asia.
In an article published in Science this week, Spanish and UK researchers urge governments in countries where vultures live to reinforce their protection measures and implement bans on Diclofenac and other NSAIDs that are deadly to vultures.
“We hope that this letter sends an important message ahead of CMS COP15 for CMS to include the vulture range states India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Spain and Italy,” stated Vinayagan Dharmarajah, Regional Director of BirdLife Asia.
“These governments, and others that host vulture populations can demonstrate what has been done so far, but should take further action before the next CMS COP to better regulate these problematic drugs. Making current bans more effective and testing which others are toxic and which are safe are among the main actions needed if we are serious about securing the future role of vulture populations.”
We will continue to work with our Partners and local communities to keep vultures playing their vital role in our ecosystems around the world.