Lappet-faced vulture

The African giant vulture has a wingspan up to 2.80 m (9 ft) wide

Bernard DUPONT

The skin of the neck region has pink folds on either side, termed lappets which give it the name lappet-faced vultures. Despite the fierce looks, this vulture has personality and would make you look twice. The featherless heads and necks help eliminate carcasses remaining as this area would be hard to preen.

These massive vultures are known to dominate the feasting carcass site and scare off smaller vultures. The strong jaw helps them debone the meat and tear off tendons and ligaments. Unlike other vultures, they don’t mind undead delicacies like flamingo eggs or small reptiles, fish, birds, and mammals. You might think they smell the food and come soaring, but instead, they use their sharp eye-sight to locate the party.

Distribution

Country
Population est.
Status
Year
Comments
Algeria
2021
Non-Breeding
Angola
2021
Benin
2021
Botswana
2021
Burkina Faso
2021
Burundi
2021
Non-Breeding
Cameroon
2021
Central Af. Rep.
2021
Chad
2021
Côte D’ivoire
2021
DR Congo (Kinshasa)
2021
Djibouti
2021
Egypt
2021
Equatorial Guinea
2021
Non-Breeding
Eritrea
2021
Eswatini
2021
Ethiopia
2021
Gambia
2021
Israel
0
Official estimate
EX
2021
Extinct locally
Jordan
0
Official estimate
EX
2021
Extinct locally
Kenya
2021
Libya
2021
Non-Breeding
Malawi
2021
Mali
2021
Mauritania
2021
Morocco
2021
Non-Breeding
Mozambique
2021
Namibia
2021
Niger
2021
Nigeria
2021
Oman
2021
Rwanda
2021
Saudi Arabia
2021
Senegal
2021
Somalia
2021
South Africa
2021
South Sudan
2021
Sudan
2021
Syria
2021
Possibly Extinct
Tanzania
2021
Togo
2021
Non-Breeding
UAE
2021
Uganda
2021
Yemen
2021
Zambia
2021
Zimbabwe
2021

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Terrestrial / Aquatic

Altricial / Precocial

Polygamous / Monogamous

Dimorphic (size) / Monomorphic

Active: Diurnal / Nocturnal

Social behavior: Solitary / Pack / Herd

Diet: Carnivore / Herbivore / Omnivore / Piscivorous / Insectivore

Migratory: Yes / No

Domesticated: Yes / No

Dangerous: Yes / No