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Location:

Predator Passage, across from lions

Ruppell Griffon Vulture

  • Tatu (M) 1/7/2003

  • Sita (M) 1/20/2006

  • Nane (M) 1/27/2008

  • Darth Maul (M) 1/21/2019

  • Skywalker (M) 1/29/2019

  • Tano (M) 2/15/24

  • newly hatched (M) 1/24/2026

  • Morticia (F) 12/18/1996

  • Sifari (F) 12/19/2000

  • Rupella De Vil (F) 1/19/2007

  • Mbanza (F) 3/5/2010

  • Flower (F) 2/10/2011

  • Rogue One (F) 2/21/2018

  • Tatooine (F) 3/4/2018

Identifying Features:

Wingtags:  

  • Tatu (M) R yellow 114

  • Sita (M) L green 125

  • Nane (M) L green 120

  • Morticia (F) R pink 112

  • Sifuri (F) R blue 101

  • Rupella De Vil (F) R pink 117

  • Mbanza (F) L pink 123

  • Flower (F) L yellow 118

  • Rogue One (F) L blue 279

  • Tatooine (F) R yellow 117

  • Darth Maul (M) R green 163

  • Skywalker (M) R orange 26

History:

  • Tano hatched 2/15/2024 to parents Moja and Sifari

  • Darth Maul is also offspring of Moja & Sifari

  • *New male chick hatched 1/24/2026

CONSERVATION: As part of our commitment to AZA's SAFE African Vulture program, the Phoenix Zoo supports The Peregrine Fund's work in Kenya to monitor and conserve African vultures, including Ruppell's griffon vulture. This project seeks to avert the poisoning of scavenging vultures and predators such as lions that occurs when people retaliate against livestock depredation. The project conducts community-based coexistence trainings to raise awareness about the dangers of poisoning and to teach people how to build predator-proof bomas (corrals) for livestock.

LEARN MORE HERE: https://peregrinefund.org/projects/african-vultures

More Information:

  • IUCN: Critically endangered

  • Only around 20,000 remaining in the wild

  • Grow between 33 and 38 inches tall

  • Wingspan up to 8 feet

  • Weigh 14 to 20 lbs

  • Thought to live up to 40 to 50 years.

  • They will tuck their head down on cool mornings

  • Stretch out when it gets warmer

  • Get lighter in color as they get older

  • Also called Rippon Vulture

  • Inhabit rocky areas across central Africa

  • Will nest on cliff edges and mountain peaks

  • Know to fly 36,000+ feet

  • One of world's highest-flying birds - One collided with a plane in Africa at 37,000 ft.

  • Locates carrion using only eyesight

  • They can consume rotten meat, even if it contains anthrax, botulism, and cholera.

  • Bacteria are destroyed in the vulture's stomach. A large meal can last at least four days.

  • Gregarious; roost, nest, and soar together

  • Males and females will build nest, incubate, and care for chick

  • Normally lay just one egg



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