While vultures have evolved over millennia to navigate natural obstacles with remarkable efficiency, they face an increasingly lethal challenge in the form of modern power infrastructure. Electrocution on medium-tension electricity pylons now ranks as the second most important cause of vulture mortality across Europe, and in several countries, it has emerged as the primary threat to vulnerable populations.
I’ve observed firsthand how these magnificent birds, with wingspans exceeding 2.8 meters in some species, are disproportionately affected compared to smaller avian counterparts.
The mortality statistics are sobering: between 12 million and 64 million birds perish annually in the United States alone from power line interactions. Vultures’ large frames and limited maneuverability make them particularly susceptible victims. Their tendency to soar on thermal updrafts, coupled with poor forward and upward vision, creates a deadly combination when intersecting with power corridors that typically sit just below average flight altitude.
Key collision hotspots occur along frequent flight paths between breeding colonies and foraging grounds. In Nepal, 122 vultures across seven species were electrocuted between 2010 and 2023, while South Africa has witnessed considerable range contractions for the Endangered Cape Vulture due to high-risk power corridors. Areas within 50 meters of feeding stations present particularly hazardous conditions.
The technical causes warrant close examination. Vultures’ flight characteristics, including their reliance on thermal updrafts and visual limitations, increase collision probability. This growing issue is compounded by the exponential rise in electricity demand that has led to more power lines crossing vulture habitats. Infrastructure expansion often overlaps prime vulture habitat, creating an unfortunate convergence of human development and critical ecological corridors. The risk escalates significantly when vultures perch on electricity pylons and touch two lines simultaneously, completing a lethal circuit through their bodies.
Population impacts have proven severe. Multiple species now hold critically endangered status, with continuous declines observed despite conservation efforts. Local subpopulations, such as those in Andalusia, Spain, face viability threats from ongoing electrocution incidents.
These mortality factors have contributed considerably to the dramatic decline in numbers and range of protected vulture species globally. The White-rumped Vulture and other critically endangered species continue to suffer losses that their slow reproductive rates simply cannot sustain.
