Black vultures have received a lot of attention in the last few years due to an apparent increase in livestock related losses and other issues. To combat this seemingly growing problem for cattle producers in Kentucky and surrounding states, UK Wildlife Extension Specialist Dr. Matthew Springer along with Purdue University, Murray State University, and USDA Wildlife Services have begun a black vulture focused research project looking at various aspects of vulture nesting behavior, movements, and survival. Dr. Springer is leading a team which includes Murray State University and USDA Wildlife Services on black vulture nesting ecology and success in Kentucky to help better understand the populations of the bird in the commonwealth. This work is funded by USDA Wildlife Services and will provide information that will be pivotal for state and federal wildlife managers to determine what lethal or non-lethal options that will be made available to producers who are experiencing vulture related cattle losses.

In addition, the wildlife extension program at UK is aiding Purdue’s efforts in identifying the characteristics of calf related depredations by vultures to better aid in identifying when vultures have caused the calf losses that producers experience. This information will be vital in determining the overall impact vultures have on livestock losses across the vulture’s range and aid in determining when livestock producers are entitled to indemnity payments from vulture related losses.  

This work was initiated in 2020 and will continue for the next several years with the main benefits coming to wildlife managers and producers in the next two to three years.