Power lines, turbines fatal for vultures

Data shows that 191 vultures were killed in five years - and that is probably an underestimate

- Sheree Bega

In the past month alone, Kerri Wolter and her team have responded to multiple vulture emergencies: birds with severe burns, broken wings and other injuries after they collided with power infrastructure.

"These magnificent birds arrive barely clinging to life," said the chief executive and founder of the vulture conservation organisation VulPro. "Without immediate intervention, none would survive."

Power lines and wind farms continue to devastate the country's critically endangered vulture populations, she said.

Expanding human development increasingly encroaches on their habitat, resulting in these "beautiful and misunderstood birds" being maimed or killed.

Recent data from VulPro has shown the scale of the problem: 191 vultures — Cape vultures, white-backed vultures and lappet-faced vultures — were reported dead or injured from 2020 to 2025 because of power lines.

"That excludes what other organisations, members of the public, landowners and farmers are picking up. So, that is only actually a fraction of the reality," said Wolter.

"We estimate that that figure is probably only 10% of the actual reality."

In a single year, about 40 vulture fatalities were recorded from power line incidents, with an average of three vultures a month lost to electrocution or collision.

Since VulPro's inception in 2007, it has recorded 473 fatalities. But these figures probably under-represent the true mortality rates, because many incidents go unreported.

The crisis extends beyond Cape vultures to include other endangered species such as white-backed and lappet-faced vultures, Wolter said. With some vulture populations having plunged by more than 90% in certain regions, "every individual bird becomes crucial for species survival".

Collisions with power lines and wind turbines and electrocutions occur when vultures have to navigate many obstacles on their way to find food and roosting spots.