In late December 2013 a white backed vulture fledgling was found at the base of a tree in the Zambezi National Park and brought to The Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust‘s facilities, it was very ill and unable to fly. Slowly we were able to improve the bird’s health and get it to both eat and drink on its own. Unfortunately, its wing was severely deformed, suspected as a result of a collision with another vulture or toxicity when it was still in the nest. The vulture (now called “Judge”) will never be able to fly, so the Trust agreed to look after Judge for the remainder of her life.

Judge is a very social animal and enjoys the company of people especially her keepers and when she has visitors who come for an interaction. Judge is very inquisitive and is always interested in noises and commotion at the Trust, often hopping over to see what is going on, and sometimes even participating in the action.

Through training as a fledgling, Judge has become an ‘Ambassador for Vultures’, educating local school children and teachers about the critical need for vulture conservation through our weekly Conservation Education Program. As well as with schools, Judge makes an appearance at agricultural shows, air rallies, and hotel presentations and has become the face for vulture conservation here in Zimbabwe. Read more about the Trust’s Vulture Conservation work.

Judge is an African White-Backed Vulture (Gyps africanus) – one of the 4 species of vultures found in Zimbabwe. This species is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Redlist.

White-backed vultures have a lifespan of up to approximately 50 years, breeding pairs mate for life and have only one chick per year. Because of these slow growth and breeding rates, white-backed vultures are extremely vulnerable to threats such as malicious poisoning of wildlife. Find out more about the threats facing White-Backed Vultures on our Vulture Conservation page.