Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus).
Image: Artemy Voikhansky, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
At a glance
- IUCN category
- EN · Endangered
- Animal group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Checked against IUCN
- Matches source — IUCN's 2021 global assessment of Neophron percnopterus says EndangeredChecked 2026-10-09 against IUCN's Red List export published 2026-07-28 · assessment
Conservation overview
The Egyptian vulture is a small, white scavenging vulture known for using stones as tools to crack eggs. It is assessed as Endangered.
It is one of the few birds that uses tools in the wild.
Range & habitat
Southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.
Major threats
Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.
- Poisoning
- Veterinary drugs in carcasses
- Electrocution and habitat change
Why it matters
As scavengers, vultures clean up carcasses and limit disease, so the Egyptian vulture's decline — part of a wider vulture crisis — has real consequences for ecosystems and people.
Gallery
Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus).
Image: Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources
Sources for Egyptian Vulture
- IUCN Red List — look up Egyptian Vulture (authoritative status)
- Animal Diversity Web