Monday, October 28, 2013

Voice for the vultures

"The passion just grew, it never subsided,” says 36-year-old Kerri Wolter, who left her administrative job with a chemical manufacturer 11 years ago to advocate for Cape vultures in Pretoria, South Africa. She founded and manages VulPro, where she and her staff rehabilitate, breed, monitor, and educate the public about the misunderstood and threatened birds. Now extinct in Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Namibia, Cape vultures have been reduced to just 2,900 breeding pairs in the wild. An entire colony was recently wiped out after feeding on the bodies of 100 elephants which had been poisoned by poachers. In addition to her work on the ground, she ascends with fellow conservationist Walter Neser – expert paraglider - to fly with the vultures (VIDEO HERE) and explains, “They lack a voice, they’re the underdog of the animal world and critically misunderstood. Somebody has to speak up for them – they chose me.”

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