In South Africa’s Kruger National Park, a mass poisoning attack this week has left 123 threatened vultures dead and another 83 recovering with the aid of a veterinary team.
On the morning of May 6, a team consisting of the South African National Parks (SANParks) rangers and staff from the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) found a carcass of an elephant laced with highly toxic pesticides in a remote part of the park. They had responded to an automated alert for suspicious activity.
“This marks one of the largest vulture poisoning events in Southern Africa — and the most extensive coordinated response effort and rescues to date,” the EWT, a South African conservation organization, wrote in a joint press statement with SANParks.
The critically endangered white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) was the most impacted, with 112 found dead at the scene. The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, estimates the species has lost 81% of its population in just under 40 years.
Another 20 cape vultures (Gyps coprotheres), a vulnerable species endemic to Southern Africa, and one lappet-faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotos), an endangered bird with only about 6,500 adult living individuals today, also died.
The six park rangers and two EWT officials who were the first to respond with first aid gave the vultures atropine, commonly used to treat pesticide poisoning, as well as activated charcoal and fluids to help absorb and dilute toxins.
As of publication, veterinary teams are working to recover the 83 surviving birds. According to EWT, about half are in a good state, while the other half are still being closely monitored. Five vultures were not able to be saved, despite treatment.
Vultures are among the few animals that specialize in eating carcasses, with highly acidic stomachs that allow them to digest flesh that would kill most other species.
This ability makes them vital in preventing the spread of disease to humans, livestock and other animals. A recent study found that vultures offer an estimated $1.8 billion per year in ecosystem services in Southern Africa.
The attack may have an outsized effect on local vulture numbers, as May is their peak breeding season, and most pairs raise only one chick a year.
Officials say poachers are increasingly using poison-laced carcasses to entrap vultures, either to sell their parts in the illegal wildlife trade or prevent circling vultures from alerting park authorities to other poaching activities.
In June 2019, more than 530 vultures and two eagles were killed in Botswana, using three poisoned elephant carcasses as bait.
“We commend every individual who responded to this tragedy,” the organizations wrote in the joint statement following the attack this week. “Their courage, skill, and relentless commitment transformed a potential extinction-level event into one of the most successful vulture rescues ever recorded.”
Banner image: More than 100 vultures were killed in a poisoning attack by poachers in May 2025. Image courtesy of the Endangered Wildlife Trust.
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