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Prof Aliza le Roux and Dr Mpho Ramoejane at the vulture restaurant, nearly 30 km from Clarens. This is a safe space for vultures to feed, in an effort to increase their declining numbers.

Endangered bird species such as the Cape and bearded vultures attract bird enthusiasts from afar. These birds are close to extinction in Southern Africa and classified as near threatened on the International Union for Conservation Nature (IUCN) list, with a strong global decline in their numbers.  

A viewing hide constructed by honorary rangers in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, about 30 km from Clarens in the Eastern Free State, offers tourists the opportunity to view and photograph the birds as they feed at one of South Africa’s close to 200 vulture restaurants. 

This tourist attraction is situated in a good location from a conservation perspective, with vulture colonies and – importantly – water close by, according to Prof Aliza le Roux

Prof Le Roux, Associate Professor in the Department of Zoology and Entomology on the Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) and affiliated to the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), is working with one of her students, Agnes Mkotywa, on a study regarding the effectiveness of this feeding site. 

Poisoned carcasses big threat to vultures 

She said there are quite a few vulture restaurants in the area, with the most famous one at Giants Castle.  

A vulture restaurant is an area where park rangers drop non-poisoned carcasses, mostly donated by nearby farmers. Poisoned carcasses, bait for other animals such as jackals and caracals, are one of the biggest threats to vultures. 

The vulture restaurants, an effort to get vulture populations to grow, are within the reach of Cape and bearded vultures. But, as found in Mkotywa’s study, the initiative has its shortcomings.  

 

Prof Le Roux said the current structures are open, and black-backed jackals come to feed any time of the day and night. “There is more feeding of the jackals than the intended vultures, and the current structure does not protect the vultures against the jackals,” she said. Jackal activity at the vulture restaurant is significantly higher than elsewhere in the park, as supported by camera traps set up in the park by Dr Mpho Ramoejane, currently an ARU postdoctoral researcher. 

Raised platform a possible solution 

“This is one of our primary research findings. A possible solution is to put up fences. It will, however, keep everything else out and will be an eyesore from a tourist perspective. A raised platform that could exclude the jackals and still provide the vultures with a large landing place, might work,” Prof Le Roux added. 

Another finding was that carcasses are not dropped regularly enough. Vultures cannot predict when there will be food.  

These findings will be published in peer-reviewed outlets, but it will also be communicated to the management of the South African National Parks (SANParks) to address the problem. “SANParks is involved in the project and wants the information. They said they needed the information and will build on it,” said Prof Le Roux.  

Once the suggested changes are implemented, she is excited to scientifically document how these changes are making a difference. This has the potential to guide the management and development of vulture restaurants elsewhere in South Africa and the world. 

News Archive

UFS will increase its volume of quality research
2009-11-25

 
From the left are, seated: Prof. Alice Pell, Vice-Provost: International Relations at Cornell University in the USA and Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS; standing: Prof. Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: External Relations at the UFS, and Prof. David Wolfe from Cornell University during the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the two institutions.
Photo: Stephen Collett

The University of the Free State (UFS) is taking its research serious and is therefore going to increase its volume of quality research. This includes the production of quality scholarly books in the humanities and social sciences.

This was said by Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, at the launch of the Strategic Academic Cluster initiative of the University on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein last night.

“We are going to produce the kind of research that is associated with scholarships. New models of training, new standards of performance and the introduction of an accelerated Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars’ Programme are among the initiatives that will be introduced. These are all aimed at boosting our university’s research performance,” said Prof. Jansen.

Another strategy to boost research performance at the UFS is the search for 25 leading professors to be appointed across the disciplines, but especially in the social sciences, education and the humanities. These positions have already been advertised and will be phased in with the goal of achieving equity and excellence in the academic and research profile of the UFS. “We’ve had an overwhelming response to the advertisements from local academics as well as those abroad,” said Prof. Jansen.

Each of the six Cluster Directors gave a short presentation of its aim and focus areas during last night’s dinner. These Clusters will in future direct the University’s research endeavours. It represents a move from a fragmented to a more focused approach to research development at the UFS.

The UFS also signed a memorandum of agreement with Cornell University (USA) last night. The guest speaker, Prof. Alice Pell, Vice-Provost: International Relations at Cornell University and member of the UFS’s International Advisory Board, said that, just as the cluster research teams need representatives from different disciplines, universities need diverse partners to recognise their potential fully. Collaborating with partners with ‘fresh eyes’ that have different cultural perspectives, access to different technologies and partners with different priorities can have important implications in the research and education provided by the UFS and Cornell,” she said.

“The interdisciplinary approach adopted by the UFS in developing the Strategic Academic Clusters seems likely to provide students with the intellectual frameworks and research tools that they need to address the problems in society,” she said.

“The most important issues facing the USA and South Africa are similar, namely how to effect the social transformation that will provide equal opportunities to all of our citizens. South Africa, Brazil, India and the USA share strong commitments to democracy, to overcoming our dark histories of religious and racial discrimination and to sustainable economic development without adverse impacts on our planet. We at Cornell are excited about the opportunity to work with the UFS on all of the clusters, but we are particularly looking forward to learning more about social transformation,” said Prof. Pell.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Deputy Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za  
24 November 2009

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