Endangered Cape vultures electrocuted

Approximately 49 Cape Griffons were electrocuted in various locations in Elliot in the Eastern Cape this past Easter weekend. Walter Neser, CEO of African Vultures, reported the incident to the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT).

The EWT initiated a response under the Eskom/EWT Partnership by Easter Monday in order to address this devastating situation.

Due to their large wingspans, heavy bodies and gregarious nature, vultures are among one of the most high-risk bird groups when it comes to mortality on Eskom infrastructure. The Eskom/EWT Partnership was established as a global first, to address wildlife interactions on electrical infrastructure.

All incidents that are reported to the partnership are recorded in the national incident register. The register allows for monitoring the trends in wildlife mortalities on Eskom's infrastructure and action to be taken.

Mortalities are reported by landowners, the EWT’s volunteer network, the public and Eskom staff. Once a mortality is reported, an EWT fieldworker or Eskom staff member will visit the incident location to compile a detailed report of all the relevant information.

This information is then used by the EWT to develop recommendations for solutions implemented by Eskom at the incident site in order to prevent recurring negative interactions. The EWT then works with Eskom to ensure that the mitigation is undertaken, and conducts an independent annual audit on randomly selected mitigation sites.

Over the last financial year, over 100 individual recommendations were issued by the EWT to Eskom for mitigation measures to be implemented. 88.23% of recommendations received from the EWT have been closed by Eskom within four months. Tragically, none of the nine provinces in South Africa are immune to vulture mortalities.

The EWT welcomes all reports on wildlife mortalities and potential areas of concern related to any and all Eskom infrastructure and urges the public to contact them on: 086-011-1535