The first International Vulture Awareness Day has come and gone and I am proud to have been associated with the event and to have worked with great friends and partners worldwide in making the event a success. Thanks to all involved who signed up, participated and arranged an event or media coverage in the run-up to and on the day. I already can't wait for next year's event which will take place on September, 4th 2010. Mark this date in your diary now!
Personally, I was involved in quite a bit of activity during the last six days or so related to this event. Our media release produced a considerable number of articles in local newspapers, radio and we also did an insert on the Afrikaans satellite network KykNet. The insert features a new star and ambassador for vulture conservation, Cody, a 7-week old cape Vulture chick incubated and hatched at the Pretoria Zoo and now hand-reared by Kerri Wolter as part of the activities of her vulture programme near the Hartbeespoort-dam near Pretoria.
On the 5th of September, an open day was held at the project's facilities which I attended and where Ipresented a lecture on vultures and vulture conservation issues worldwide. It was great to have the birds on hand to illustrate some of the points made in the talk in a practical manner and I trust that the good number of people that attended will have learnt and something of these fascinating creatures. The event was well-attended and also included a colouring-in competition for the children and it was great to see their fascination with the birds, especially came feeding time!
The Vulcha Helpers were also well-represented and assisted Kerri on the day with logistics, providing meals and drinks and also selling a range of items to raise funds. This group has been active for over a year now and aims to re-establish the principle of volunteer work to benefit vultures at sites in the Magaliesberg and Northwest, South Africa and are doing good work. It is certainly great to see the enthusiasm of people such as Jeff Newman, Robyn Craven and others to assist with this important work.
All-in-all a very enjoyable day! I did plan to go and have a look at the Scheerpoort Cape Vulture colony nearby, but the day was very hazy due to all the veld-fires burning in the area at the moment that views of the wild birds and their nesting sites would have been limited. Well, I'll just have to make up for the lack of wild birds during my fieldwork this coming week!
Sounds like you had a great day! I wish I had attended a live event for IVAD, maybe next year. And yes, I did mark my calendar, thank you!
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