Beach Buffet: First Observations of White‐Backed Vultures <i>Gyps africanus</i> Feeding on a Cape Fur Seal <i>Arctocephalus pusillus</i> on the Skeleton Coast

Abstract

Vultures are avian obligate scavengers which provide important ecosystem services by efficiently removing carcasses from the landscape. Some species are now being observed feeding in coastal environments where they consume marine carcasses (i.e., whales, dolphins, seals and fish). On the African continent, only two species thus far have been reported to feed in the coastal ecosystems: the Lappet-faced Vulture (<i>Torgos tracheliotos</i>) on the Skeleton Coast of Namibia and the Hooded Vulture (<i>Necrosyrtes monachus</i>) in southern Gambia. Here we report on the first observation of four White-backed Vultures feeding on a Cape fur seal (<i>Arctocephalus pusillus</i>) killed by lions (<i>Panthera leo</i>). These observations carry several ecological and conservation implications and raise certain conservation concerns, including marine nutrients transfer and potential accumulation of marine environmental toxicants.