Protect Africa’s Birds of Prey

Introduction

Africa’s skies are home to some of the world’s most remarkable birds of prey, eagles, vultures, owls, falcons, and the iconic Secretarybird. As apex predators and nature’s clean-up crew, raptors keep ecosystems in balance, control disease, and serve as vital indicators of environmental health. Yet these birds face mounting threats from habitat loss, power-line electrocution, and, above all, poisoning, which has driven some vulture species to the brink of extinction, with Kenya alone losing an estimated 80–97% of its vultures over the past 50 years. Protecting Africa’s raptors requires specialized expertise, rapid-response rescue networks, and long-term habitat protection. Through its grantmaking and Fiscal Sponsorship Program, Empowers Africa supports organizations working to conserve birds of prey through rescue and rehabilitation, population research, anti-poisoning response, and the protection of critical breeding habitat.

Why Birds of Prey Conservation Matters

Birds of prey have evolved remarkably specialised ways of surviving in some of Africa’s most challenging environments. Vultures, for example, can locate carrion across enormous distances and gather in large numbers at a carcass, where their different feeding adaptations allow several species to feed alongside one another. Eagles, falcons and owls occupy very different niches, from powerful hunters capable of taking substantial prey to highly specialised species adapted to hunting in low light or through high-speed aerial pursuit.

This diversity is part of what makes raptors so valuable to healthy ecosystems. Their populations reflect the availability of prey, suitable habitat and the condition of the wider landscape, while vultures in particular provide one of nature’s most efficient systems for rapidly processing animal remains. When these highly specialised species disappear, the ecological role they perform cannot always be easily replaced. Protecting birds of prey therefore means maintaining the intricate relationships and natural processes that allow Africa’s ecosystems to function.