Gyps vultures

The most familiar and abundant species of vultures belong to the genus Gyps, which includes eight species that occur across Africa, Europe and Asia. Two species are migratory, the Himalayan griffon vulture (G. himalayensis) and Eurasian griffon vulture (G. fulvus), while the other six species are resident although they may still make large seasonal movements in response to food supplies and climatic conditions (e.g. during the monsoon in Asia). The three resident species found in Asia are the Oriental white-backed vulture (G. bengalensis, also known as the white-rumped vulture), long-billed vulture (G. indicus, also known as the Indian vulture) and slender-billed vulture (G. tenuirostris).

The other three species of Gyps are found in Africa: the African white-backed (G. africanus), Rueppell’s (G. rueppellii) and Cape griffon vulture (G. coprotheres). No Gyps species is completely geographically isolated from its congeners. Gyps vultures are obligate scavengers (they have to scavenge and do not hunt for themselves) and perform an important ecological function by stripping the soft tissue from carcasses. Gyps vultures used to be widespread and abundant, accounting for the majority of vulture sightings in both Africa and Asia. Their abundance in India and Nepal, where Hindu religious taboos restrict the consumption of meat, is explained by the role Gyps has in consuming cattle carcasses. In most parts of Africa, vultures primarily feed on dead wild ungulates. All Gyps species are wide-ranging in their foraging behaviour and juveniles disperse more widely than adults.