- Where to see one
- 4 U.S. zoos in our directory hold cape vulture, confirmed against each zoo's own animal list.
Conservation status
Not Evaluated
This species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List, so it sits outside the threat scale entirely.
About the cape vulture
The Cape vulture is a large Old World vulture endemic to southern Africa, living mainly in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana and northern Namibia. It is creamy-buff with dark flight and tail feathers, a nearly bare head and neck and yellowish eyes, and weighs 7 to 11 kg with a wingspan of 2.26 to 2.6 m. It breeds and roosts on cliff faces, laying one egg per year. An obligate scavenger, it feeds on carrion in groups, spotting carcasses from far away with good eyesight and eating soft muscle and organ tissue and some bone fragments. It is the third largest Old World vulture on average.
Cape Vulture facts
- Two bare skin patches at the base of the neck are thought to act as temperature sensors for finding thermals.
- It rivals the great white pelican and kori bustard as the largest flying bird native to Africa.
- Tracked birds in Namibia had home ranges of 11,800 to 22,500 km2.
- Cape vultures lay just one egg per year.
Where to see cape vulture in the U.S.
4 zoos across 4 states
Find the closest one
Rank the 3 zoos holding cape vulture by how far they are from you. Your location is used in your browser to sort this list and is never sent to us.
1 more zoo holds cape vulture but has no coordinates on file yet, so it isn't ranked here. It's in the full list below.
California· 1
Colorado· 1
New Mexico· 1
Tennessee· 1
AZAThe Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Accredited members have passed an independent inspection of animal care and welfare, safety, conservation and education, repeated every five years. Many smaller facilities never apply, so “not accredited” isn't a verdict on its own. What accreditation means · How we check this
Built from each zoo's own published animal list.
