A big thank you to everyone who donated and visited us during International Vulture Awareness Day this year; it made for an amazing weekend! IVAD is an important day to the team at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary; it puts a spotlight on the highly important yet misunderstood Vultures. Every year across the world hundreds of organisers and thousands of participants celebrate Vultures and give these under appreciated animals a voice and push for their conservation.
Education Station
Visitors had the opportunity to learn about Vultures and the Endangered Wildlife Trust at our Education Station; it was manned throughout the day by our incredible staff and volunteers. The table included feathers from our Vultures and weighted sacks so visitors could feel the weight of different Vulture species.
The definite highlight of the weekend was the Vultures appearances in the Flying Displays. There is no better way to inspire people to care about the conservation of Vultures than to see them in flight!
Jack, Rose and Toto the Hooded Vultures
Why do Vultures need our protection? Vulture numbers are declining at an alarming rate with 70% of Vulture species already classified as Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered; this makes Vultures one of the most threatened groups of birds in the world. Vultures face the challenges of habitat loss, poisonings and the illegal wildlife trade. Vultures are often poisoned by poachers who don’t want the circling Vultures to draw attention to them after they have poached a larger animal; for a while this is how the authorities would catch poachers in the act. The most recent mass poisoning event took place in 2022 and it claimed the lives of 108 Endangered Vultures.
The extinction of Vultures would not only impact them but it will also have a detrimental knock-on effect for the wider ecosystem. Vultures play a key part of nature’s cleanup crew; preserving the balance of the environment, disposing of carcasses and preventing the spread of disease.
This year for International Vulture Awareness Day, Suffolk Owl Sanctuary chose to raise money for the Endangered Wildlife Trust; they are the fantastic organisation who run the ‘Vultures for Africa’ programme. The EWT protects Vultures in so many ways including their Vulture Ambulance; it remains stationed within high-poisoning-risk areas and means that if a mass poisoning takes place they can respond quickly. The ambulance is equipped with everything needed to rapidly and successfully rescue, stabilise, treat and transport birds which have survived the poisoning; significantly increasing the number of birds which survive these catastrophic events. The EWT do incredible conservation work so please read more about what they do to help Vultures here: https://ewt.org.za/what-we-do/saving-species/vultures/
Vulture Ambulance
It’s equipped with everything needed to rescue, treat and transport Vultures which have been victims of a mass poisoning.
Grand Total
We are proud to announce that this year we were able to raise an amazing £865 for the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s ‘Vultures for Africa’ programme. Thank you to all the visitors, volunteers and staff who made this possible.