IN PICS | Rehab and a 'restaurant' at Harties vulture centre

Vulpro, a rehabilitation centre in Rietfontein, Hartbeespoort, is a one-of-a-kind rehabilitation programme for endangered vultures collected all over Southern Africa.

Among the services offered by the centre is the amputation of wings of wounded birds, taking away the pain of living with broken wings.

According to the centre, this is a common injury suffered by scores of vultures when they collide with electricity lines. Besides broken wings, many of the ill-sighted vultures suffer electrocution on power lines.

Vulpro has a population of about 265 birds. Once they are brought to the centre, some cannot be released back into the wild. The centre has found another use for these birds, namely breeding.

Severely injured birds are kept in captivity and are introduced to mates for breeding purposes. Their offspring, although born in captivity, are released into the wild once they are able to fend for themselves.

The centre has become a “restaurant” for wild and free vultures that arrive in numbers to feast on carcasses left out in the open for those in captivity.

The Sunday Times visited Vulpro and photographed dozens of Cape Vultures in captivity.

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