At the foot of the southern Drakensberg, the Mzimkulu Vulture Hide provides a close, considered way to observe vultures and other birds while learning about the conservation work behind the site. Its one-way-glass viewing design supports wildlife observation and photography without making the hide itself the main story.

A collaborative conservation partnership

The Mzimkulu Vulture Hide forms part of Wildlife ACT’s Southern Drakensberg Conservation Project and has been made possible by a collaborative effort between Wildlife ACT and Riverlea Farm. The primary objective of this initiative is to provide the Southern Drakensberg with a sustainable safe feeding site for vultures. Important partners include Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Project Vulture, Drakensberg Conservation Initiative, Bearded Vulture Recovery Programme and the Endangered Wildlife Trust. The creation of the hide has been made possible by Invicta Wildlife, CHEP, and European Outdoor Conservation Association. The support of local Underberg farms have also been crucial to making this important Vulture Safe Feeding Site possible.

The importance of Vulture Conservation in the region

Vultures are nature's cleanup crew, scavenging and disposing of animal remains that could otherwise become breeding grounds for disease. By swiftly recycling organic matter, Vultures help prevent the spread of illnesses that could affect both humans and animals.

Despite their importance, Vulture numbers across Africa are in rapid decline and their range numbers have decreased by up to 70%. Of the six Vulture species that occur in South Africa, all are either Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered. Despite being critical to our ecosystems, Vulture numbers are in serious decline, with only 50 to 100 breeding pairs of Bearded Vulture in South Africa and Lesotho and about 4,500 breeding pairs of Cape Vulture left in South Africa.

The importance of Vulture Safe Feeding Sites

Vulture safe feeding sites or vulture restaurants are areas where uncontaminated carcasses are intentionally placed to provide a safe and sustainable supplementary food source for vultures, to help ensure their survival and contribute to the ecological balance.

The Southern Drakensberg is a stronghold location for two of South Africa’s cliff nesting species of vulture, namely the Bearded Vulture and Cape Vulture. As such, it is essential for conservation initiatives to be spearheaded in this region, aimed at preserving and protecting this crucial population of endangered birds.

The implementation of a vulture safe feeding zone is one such initiative that has started strongly with vital support from the Drakensberg Conservation Initiative and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife in collaboration with Wildlife ACT and Riverlea Farm; as the essential input of local farmers and landowners.

Vulture feeding sites may also incorporate hides, allowing photographers and conservation enthusiasts to have a close-up view of these incredible birds and other animals that frequent the sites. In addition to increasing public awareness about the challenges faced by vultures, these hides serve an important role in ecotourism, with the potential to generate revenue to sustain vulture conservation initiatives. This is the hope for the Mzimkulu Vulture Hide.

A crucial stronghold for South Africa’s cliff nesting vultures

The Mzimkulu Vulture Hide is located 8KMs from Underberg, in KwaZulu-Natal’s Southern Drakensberg. The hide location rests on the foot of the Maloti-Drakensberg Park, which is a World Heritage Site is one of the five largest protected areas in South Africa – providing one of the last strongholds for several threatened and endangered species.

The Maloti-Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site is renowned for its spectacular natural landscape, importance as a haven for many threatened and endemic species, and for its wealth of rock paintings made by the San people over a period of 4,000 years. The Heritage Site covers an area of 249,313 ha making it the largest Protected Area complex along the Great Escarpment of Southern Africa. Extending along most of KwaZulu-Natal’s south-western border with Lesotho, the property provides a vital refuge for more than 250 endemic plant species and their associated fauna.

It also holds almost all of the remaining subalpine and alpine vegetation in the KwaZulu-Natal province, including extensive high altitude wetlands. The uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park has been identified as an Important Bird Area, and forms a critical part of the Lesotho Highlands Endemic Bird Area.

Planning a visit

Opening arrangements, capacity, rates and visitor guidance can change with conservation operations and conditions at the feeding site. Before travelling, confirm the latest information directly with Save Our Vultures and consult Wildlife ACT for current conservation updates. Keep noise low, follow the host’s instructions and treat any wildlife-viewing opportunity as a privilege rather than a guarantee.

Who is Wildlife ACT:

Wildlife ACT is a team of experienced conservationists performing critical on-the-ground work in order to save endangered and threatened species from extinction. Operating predominantly in Zululand, KZN, Wildlife ACT implements professional and strategic monitoring and research to enable and inform effective conservation management of wildlife.

About Wildlife ACT’s Southern Drakensberg Conservation Project

The Southern Drakensberg Conservation Project is Wildlife ACT’s most recent conservation project focusing on the monitoring of endangered and critically endangered vultures, and various other priority species and protected area boundary conservation work.

The vulture conservation work involves nest monitoring and vulture-safe feeding site management and monitoring, management of a long-term camera trap survey and various protected area boundary support, such as alien plant control and emergency response for issues related to vultures and other priority species.