Species Profile
Egyptian Vulture
(Neophron percnopterus)
Species Fact Sheet
| IUCN Red List Status | Endangered | Source: IUCN 2024 |
| Range | Widely distributed in southern Europe, northern Africa, South and West Asia, and in some countries surrounding China such as India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan | Source: Kabir et al 2019 |
| Body Size | Mass: approx. 2kg; Wingspan: about 170cm | Source: Kabir et al 2019 |
Recent News
22 February 2025: "382 Vultures Cosy Up In Womb Of Madhya Pradesh's Katni" The Free Press Journal (India).
22 February 2025: "Vulture Population Soars in Madhya Pradesh, Tops National Chart" The Impressive Times (India).
16 February 2025: "NCR birders delight in spotting rare species on their big day" Times of India.
30 January 2025: "Circle of Life: How the Eastern Rhodopes became a model of a restored ecosystem" BNR (Bulgaria).
16 January 2025: "Egyptian vulture named bird of 2025 in Kazakhstan" Kazinform.
5 January 2025: "Endangered Egyptian Vulture Nesting Recorded in King Salman Royal Reserve" Saudi Press Agency
30 December 2024: "After reaching Ayodhya, the Nepalese vulture returned to Pokhara" eKantipur.
11 December 2024: "Injured Egyptian vulture of endangered species rescued in Pilibhit" Times of India.
4 December 2024: "Satellite tagging tracks Egyptian vulture’s 200 km journey to Ayodhya" The Annapurna Express.
12 November 2023: “Why Vultures Might Just Be the Smartest Birds Above the Block” The New York Times.
Bibliography
Andreoni 2016. “Vultures: Exegesis of a Symbol” Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology 3(4): 2016. http://www.jaha.org.ro...
Arkumarev et al 2019. “A literature review of occurrence of Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) resident in Africa” Vulture News 77: November 2019. https://www.ajol.info...
Bounas et al 2016. “First confirmed case of lead poisoning in the endangered Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) in the Balkans” Vulture News 70: July 2016. https://www.ajol.info...
Burnside et al 2024. “Identifying migration routes and wintering sites of Egyptian Vultures breeding in Uzbekistan PROJECT REPORT 2022/23” Central Asian Vultures. https://static1.squarespace.com...
Camiña 2017. “Cooperative kleptoparasitism in a pair of Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus in northern Spain” Vulture News 73: November 2017. https://www.ajol.info...
Colomer and Margalida 2025. "Demographic effects of sanitary policies on European vulture population dynamics: A retrospective modeling approach" Ecological Applications 35(1). https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com...
De Rosa et al 2024. “First breeding of Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) in Sardinia and temporal and environmental factors affecting its frequentation of a supplementary feeding station” Ethology Ecology and Evolution 36(4): 5 February 2024. https://www.tandfonline.com...
Dognimon et al 2025. "Geographic distribution and supply chain of vultures in Benin, West Africa" Conservation Science and Practice: 20 February 2025. https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com...
Efrat et al 2023. “Early and accumulated experience shape migration and flight in Egyptian vultures” Current Biology 33(24): 18 December 2023. https://www.cell.com...
Feduccia 1974. “Another Old World Vulture from the New World” The Wilson Bulletin 86(3): September 1974. https://www.jstor.org...
Fernández-Gómez et al 2024. “Ecosystem productivity drives the breeding success of an endangered top avian scavenger in a changing grazing pressure context” Science of the Total Environment 910: 1 February 2024. https://www.sciencedirect.com...
Gangoso et al 2013. “Reinventing mutualism between humans and wild fauna: insights from vultures as ecosystem services providers” Conservation Letters 6(3): June 2013. https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com...
Haas and Mundy 2013. “Vultures revered in time and place” Vulture News 63: January 2013. https://www.ajol.info...
Kabir et al 2019. “Population Surveys of Endangered Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) in Mahasheer National Park Kotli, Azad Jammu and Kashmir” Vulture News 77: November 2019. https://www.ajol.info...
Kushwaha 2016b. “Vultures in the Cultures of the World” Asian Journal of Agriculture and Life Sciences 1(2): April 2016. https://www.researchgate.net...
MaMing and Xu 2015. “Status and threats to vultures in China” Vulture News 68: July 2015. https://www.ajol.info...
Mani et al 2024. "Threats to vultures of Uttar Pradesh: A review" International Journal of Science and Research Archive 13(2). https://www.researchgate.net...
Surdo and Vento 2024. “Sicilian ornithological report 2021 (Sicily, Italy)” Biodiversity Journal 15(3). https://www.biodiversityjournal.com...
William et al 2025. “Predicting climate driven habitat shifts for the Egyptian vulture in Punjab, Pakistan” Journal for Nature Conservation 83. https://www.sciencedirect.com...