Hooded Vulture

£4.05

Greetings Card (FSC Board)
Size:
148mm x 148mm
Card blank inside
Free P + P

Original Painting Medium: Pastels
Scientific Name: Necrosyrtes monachus
Region:  sub-Saharan Africa

I am a Signature Member of Artists for Conservation and in 2017, I received a request asking if I would be willing to donate artwork for the ‘Silent Skies’ project at the 27th International Ornithological Congress in Vancouver, Canada. The focus was to highlight all 678 endangered species of birds of the world in a large mural comprising individually created paintings.

Sadly, vulture numbers are declining dramatically due to an anti-inflammatory drug known as Diclofenac: this drug is fatal to vultures and is also used liberally by Asian and African farmers.  In these countries, if an animal dies it is often left to rot, and for thousands of years vultures have cleared up these carcasses: protecting us from bacteria and disease. With the misuse of this cheap and easily accessible drug, sadly, 1000’s of vultures are being poisoned.  Many farmers also leave poisoned bait hidden deliberately in dead rabbits or goats, in order to kill scavenging dogs. Again, our vultures are the innocent victims.

Over the centuries mankind has also demonised vultures for eating dead and decaying corpses; but by performing this extremely important task, vultures have kept us and our environment healthy.

I chose to portray a Hooded Vulture as they are such unusual, characterful, and important birds. In need of reference material, I managed to find, meet and photograph a couple of  Hooded Vultures here in the UK and it was a privilege to portray this handsome, colourful bird, and to meet his owner, Jayson Bridges.

August 2018 – all artworks were auctioned to help raise awareness and funds to help all our endangered bird species.

 

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