SPECIES SPOTLIGHT

The wonderful world of exotic animals

King vulture (Sarcoramphus papa)

The King vulture is a perfect example of an animal considered both grotesque and beautiful. Ancient Mayan legends considered this bird the messenger between people and the gods. As the name suggests, the King vulture is one of the largest scavenging birds. With a wingspan of up to 2m, other vultures give way to them as they arrive at a carcass.

King vultures can be found throughout Central and South America, from Southern Mexico to Northern Argentina. This area is approximately 14 million squared kilometres, prompting conservationists to consider king vultures to be of ‘least concern’. They typically inhabit grasslands and tropical forests, in small groups and exhibit minimal sexual dimorphism. Both sexes possess the same fleshy orange caruncle and black and white plumage.

Vultures play a pivotal role in the ecosystems they inhabit. Being scavengers, they have evolved to possess highly acidic stomach juices, making them lost their feathers to allow the animals to bury their heads deep in the decaying flesh.

Interestingly, king vultures make wonderful parents. The female will lay a single egg in a nest on the ground, which both parents will protect and nurture until the chick fledges the nest. Being such fearsome birds, with so few competitors or predators, the parents can dedicate all their efforts towards a single offspring. This youngster will not develop the trademark orange colouration until they are upwards of three years old.

Although king vultures are widespread and officially considered ‘least concern’ many researchers from various countries within their range believe they are facing population declines. Deforestation and habitat destruction throughout South America is contributing to huge declines in biodiversity and cryptic species that often fly at altitudes too high to fully observe are at risk.