Diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID), was the cause of the rapid vulture population decline in the Indian subcontinent in the 1990s. Since 2013, diclofenac has been approved for veterinary use in Spain. The Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain) hosts more than 95% of the Old World vulture population in Europe, so this situation poses a significant potential threat for European vultures. Other NSAIDs may also pose a risk to vultures, but a thorough review of available evidence has not been conducted. We conducted a scoping review to analyze the published research on the impact of NSAIDs to Old World vultures to ultimately use the synthesized information to inform risk assessments. We implemented a search strategy of four bibliographic databases (1990–2019). Publications were screened in two steps, and two reviewers independently extracted data relevant to the phases of a risk assessment (release, exposure, and consequences). Among the 78 studies included in the review, 41% focused on India, 21.8% studied the White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis), 38.5% evaluated diclofenac, and 12.8% meloxicam. There was substantial evidence that diclofenac can lead to mortality in Old World vultures. There was also some evidence of mortality and clinical signs caused by carprofen, ketoprofen, and flunixin meglumine. Mild clinical signs were reported for phenylbutazone, and nimesulide, and no consequences were reported for meloxicam. However, the effects of all these other NSAIDs to vultures need further research.

Vultures are a key component of an effective scavenger guild and have evolved a number of adaptations that allow them to locate and dispose of carcasses quickly and efficiently. The continuing decline of African vultures is threatening the stability of the African scavenger guild, which may result in increased carcass decomposition times and thus, more rapid development of pathogenic bacteria. The absence of competitive regulation by these apex scavengers may also result in changes in the composition of the vertebrate scavenger guild, with an increase in mammalian scavengers giving rise to increased contact rates at carcasses, which may increase the risk of viral disease transmission to humans, livestock, and other wildlife. Although the economic value of vultures in terms of the sanitation services they provide has been evaluated, their contribution to the economics of human health and veterinary care remains to be quantified. Efforts to do so are hampered by lack of data, as well as a number of confounding factors that may mask causality, such as improved disease prevention and surveillance systems. However, the circumstantial nature of the link between vultures and disease prevention should not deter efforts to conserve them, as their regulation of mammalian scavengers and the sanitation services they provide place them firmly within the sphere of One Health, thereby warranting their urgent protection. The restoration of vulture populations and the ecosystem services they provide will benefit the welfare of all humans, but particularly those who are most vulnerable to economic instability and the spillover of disease at the human-wildlife-livestock interface.

Vultures provide crucial ecological, economic, and cultural benefits, yet many Old World populations are declining. The illegal trade in vultures for traditional medicines (known as muthi in South Africa) is widely regarded as an important threat to the conservation of African vultures, but there are relatively few studies on the acquisition and trade in vultures for traditional medicine, which limits our understanding (and the effective mitigation) of this threat. We assessed the use of vultures in traditional medicine in the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region, South Africa, by conducting questionnaires with 51 traditional healers from the Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners Association in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province. Traditional healers reported that vulture body parts were used alone, or in combination with plants or minerals, for various purposes, primarily to give clairvoyant abilities, but also to promote good dreams or increased intelligence, to treat illnesses, and to appease the ancestors. Vultures were acquired (for use in traditional medicine) by poisoning and trapping in communal rangelands and inside protected areas (the Kruger National Park, Manyeleti Game Reserve, Sabi Sands Game Reserve, and Bushbuckridge Nature Reserve). Vultures reportedly varied in price from ZAR300 to ZAR1500 (approximately US$17 to US$85) for a whole bird. We estimate that this association of traditional health practitioners uses 400–800 vultures a year. Our survey respondents expressed concern that acquiring vultures through poisoning is unsustainable, because birds are killed en masse, and this may reduce the sustainability of vulture populations for traditional use by future generations. Our respondents suggested the Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator) and honey badger (Mellivora capensis) as alternatives for vultures in traditional medicine. There is a need for better law enforcement in our study area to reduce the threat that illegal killing for traditional medicine poses to the region's vultures.

African vulture populations are currently in rapid decline, due to a range of anthropogenic factors. These include intentional and unintentional poisoning; degradation, fragmentation, and loss of habitat; and the killing of vultures to obtain body parts for use in traditional medicine. Consequently, people living in rural communities adjacent to protected areas may have a negative or positive impact on their local vulture populations, and so understanding their attitudes towards vultures is imperative. We surveyed Traditional Health Practitioners (those who may [unlawfully] acquire vulture parts for use in traditional medicine) and other community members (those who are not Traditional Health Practitioners but who might use traditional medicine containing vulture body parts) to understand how they perceive vultures and the cultural beliefs associated with vultures in the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region, South Africa. We conducted 248 structured interviews with 197 community members and 51 Traditional Health Practitioners in nine villages in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, Mpumalanga Province, adjacent to protected areas. Our results showed that community members and Traditional Health Practitioners regarded vultures as beneficial to them for ecosystem services, as a cultural resource, and as a means of generating income. Community members and Traditional Health Practitioners generally had positive attitudes toward vultures, and community members were more inclined than Traditional Health Practitioners to like vultures. Both groups of respondents expressed a fear of vultures because of their aggressive feeding behavior and their physical appearance. Our results highlighted that vultures in our study area are traded and used in traditional medicines for various purposes. Contrary to what was previously thought, vultures are indeed used in traditional medicine close to the Kruger National Park. Our interviewees expressed a desire to learn more about vultures, and this could be a starting point to increase conservation education for these species. There is a need to raise awareness of vulture population declines among all community members in Bushbuckridge and to highlight the human health risks of using poison for pest control.

Because African vultures are declining due to anthropogenic causes, we linked conservation management with social science by examining the ethical perspectives of individuals responsible for the management of vultures. Understanding these perspectives can help balance scientific knowledge with stakeholder concerns, resulting in more effective decision-making. We interviewed 37 vulture conservationists: 24 in South Africa and Kenya from July–August 2017, and the remaining 13 at a conference in the United States from October–November 2017. We used a Q-Methodology activity in which participants ranked a set of statements (termed Q-sort questions) that we had generated based on pre-study interviews and published literature. This methodology is a social science tool that quantitatively evaluates subjective characteristics such as the values that shape a participant's ethical worldview. A follow-up, semi-structured interview provided a deeper understanding of the participants' statement rankings. Together, both steps addressed individual beliefs and how the participants framed their ethical value structures. We found that the conservationists interviewed, regardless of background, held an overall ethical commitment to duty that guides them as they pursue their conservation management work. The Q-sort analysis suggested three different factors that reflected their expressed views: (1) a biocentric perspective (moral status given to all living things in nature) but with strong negative linkage toward vultures having value for human use (non-anthropocentric intrinsic value), (2) an environmental virtue ethics perspective (moral values are based on a person's character rather than whether specific actions are right or wrong) with consideration given toward vultures having possible value for human use, and (3) an ecocentric perspective (holistic, wherein moral consideration is given to both species and ecosystems) that was neutral with regard to vultures having value for human use (intrinsic value). Insights gained from this study represent an initial step in elucidating stakeholder perspectives and will contribute to the conservation of African vultures.

One Health brings the powerful interrelationship between human and wildlife health together with ecosystem health. The initial concept of One Health was formulated decades ago and focused on disease transfer from wildlife to human populations. More recently, the concept has been used to associate resilience to disease with the health of the ecosystem and resilience to environmental stressors. The need for a One Health approach is particularly evident in the plight of Old World vultures, which are facing a conservation crisis due to drastic reductions in populations across their entire range. Moreover, vulture conservation exemplifies many contemporary tenets of One Health; vultures are critical to a sustainable and resilient ecosystem, which in turn is essential for the socio-ecological health of human communities. In this review, we examine the complex factors contributing to the demise of Old World vulture populations, using the lens of One Health to conceptualize the primary drivers impacting the health and sustainability of these populations. The One Health concept provides the basis for the development of a framework that incorporates a multidimensional approach and includes human health, wildlife health, environmental and disease-related stressors, disease incidences, societal pressures, and environmental contaminants. Integrating societal needs with management aimed at maintaining healthy vulture populations is key for successfully using a One Health framework to optimize the health of human and wildlife populations and ensure ecosystem health.

Despite a dramatic recovery from the brink of extinction, California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus) still face significant anthropogenic threats. Although condor movement patterns across large temporal scales are understood, less is known about their movements on a fine temporal scale. We used a trajectory-based analysis of GPS telemetry data gathered from condors during 2013 to 2018 to investigate the relationship between the distances condors travel in a day, demographic characteristics (e.g., age and sex), and time of year. Most (>71.4%) daily travel distances by condors were <100 km, and, on average, condors traveled 70.1 ± 60.9 km/d (x̄ ± SD). On two occasions one condor traveled >400 km in a single day (477 km one day and 415 km the following day). The tendency for condors to travel long distances increased with age, and condors traveled longer distances during the summer and when nesting. Traveling such long distances likely exposes birds to threats across a greater variety of landscapes than would be expected for birds that moved shorter distances. Given anticipated condor range expansion and population increase, this work highlights the importance of coordinating condor conservation across the broad spatial scales at which they move.

The endangered Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres), a southern African endemic, breeds on precipitous cliffs in various habitats. Some colonies of this cliff-nesting species are found in the southeast (Mannyelanong Hill) and east (Tswapong Hills and adjacent complexes) of Botswana. Of six breeding sites studied in the Tswapong Hills complex from 1992 to 1999, only two large colonies near the villages of Goo-Moremi (Bonwalenong site) and Goo-Tau (Manong Yeng site) and one small colony near Lerala (Kukubye site) still hold breeding vultures. In 2017 and 2018 we used direct observations to estimate the breeding population and breeding success of Cape Vultures at the Bonwalenong and Manong Yeng colonies, and we compared our findings with data from the 1990s. We identified 261 nests in 2017 and 362 nests in 2018, and monitored them throughout the breeding season. Breeding success at the two sites differed significantly between the 2 yr of our study (2017 and 2018). However, breeding success at Manong Yeng in 2017–2018 did not differ significantly from that documented in the earlier study (1992–1999). Our results also suggested relatively stable numbers of breeding pairs in the Tswapong Hills between 1992–1999 and 2017–2018. Cape Vultures in the Tswapong Hills require continued monitoring and research to better understand population dynamics and the key factors influencing breeding success and nestling survival.

Scavenger birds are common species frequently associated with open habitats, but sympatric vulture species have differing natural history traits that may influence seasonal habitat relationships and responses to natural disturbances, such as hurricanes. We evaluated seasonality and habitat relationships of Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) and Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) at sites within and outside the path of maximum winds of Hurricane Patricia in western Mexico. We used 1.5-km line transects to survey vultures during dry and rainy seasons in four habitats of the tropical dry forest biome over a 2-yr period after hurricane landfall. We measured habitat structure along each transect using the point-centered quarter method, and determined landscape composition within a 3000-ha circular plot centered around the midpoint of each transect. Vulture abundance was influenced by habitat structure variables of open areas, but at sites affected by hurricane disturbance vulture abundance was positively associated with increased cover of wetlands and agricultural land. Both species of vultures had low abundance in forests, and Black Vultures had significantly higher abundance in agricultural land and wetlands. Season significantly influenced vulture abundance by habitat: agricultural land and wetlands had higher vulture abundance in the rainy season, but forests had higher abundance in the dry season. Disturbance by a major hurricane induced species-specific changes in spatial-temporal abundance of vultures: the Black Vulture in particular had higher abundance in all habitats except wetlands during the dry season, and greater abundance in the first months after hurricane landfall. Hence, although vultures occur predominantly in open areas, they show species-specific habitat associations and responses to hurricane disturbance.

Animals' movements integrate multiple factors, such as motion and navigational abilities, the motivational and internal states of the individuals, and environmental conditions. We studied Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus) from two populations (Causses and Pyrenees, France) to determine whether they adapt their movements (foraging and home range) and their time/energy budgets to the local environmental conditions and their breeding status. We found that Caussean vultures spent 35% more time flying per day and 37% more time per flight than Pyrenean birds, landed twice as often to eat, and were 67% more active while on the ground. The distance vultures travelled in the Causses, and to a lesser extent in the Pyrenees, appeared to be influenced by the availability of thermals. Our results suggest that the breeding status of the individual, the seasonality of the availability of food resources and its predictability, and meteorological conditions can influence movements and home ranging behavior. Both internal and external factors also affect the size and shape of home ranges. However, the fact that the vultures we tracked in the Causses were breeding birds whereas most of those in the Pyrenees were nonbreeders precluded us from disentangling the effects of breeding constraints and environment.

Despite efforts to recover the California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) in the past 30 yr, the species is still Critically Endangered due in part to dependence on field management and captive breeding. Captive breeding focuses not only on the quantity of young produced every year, but also on the quality of these birds, to ensure their future success in the wild. In this study, The Peregrine Fund pioneered the use of unpaired adult condors as foster parents to increase the number of young being raised by conspecifics, and therefore likely increase their chances of success in the wild. A total of 17 young have been raised to fledging by unpaired adults with previous rearing experience at The Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey from 2012 to 2019. Three unpaired males successfully raised eight young. An unpaired female raised young in 2018 and 2019 after her infertile eggs were switched with hatching eggs. We also separated a pair of condors and had each attempt to raise young on their own, for a total of seven young raised. The adult that remained in the original chamber always raised young successfully. The adult that was separated, however, often rejected the dummy egg that was offered in the new chamber. The use of unpaired adults as foster parents provides the recovery effort with additional benefits, such as having experienced breeders raising young, having “backup” parents, keeping unpaired adults occupied with breeding tasks, and preventing them from being housed as surplus animals.