VULTURES high-flying sleuths

« Dr Ian John Whyte is an independent environmental consultant who retired from SANParks in 2007. He was previously engaged in full-time wildlife research in Kruger National Park from 1970-2007. At the time of retirement, he was responsible for the coordination of all research projects pertaining to elephant, buffalo and other large herbivores and rare antelope. He is a member of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission’s African Elephant Specialist Group. He has co-authored two field guides to the birds of the Kruger National Park and is in the process of publishing a book about his life and work in KNP.

Vultures, although sometimes despised as scavengers and eaters of carrion, are fascinating birds that play an extraordinarily important role in food chains and ecological processes. They are the dominant diurnal consumers of carcasses that might otherwise pose health risks to other