Traditionally, the decline of vulture populations in southern Africa has been explained by decreased access to food, various sources of unnatural mortality (in particular, poisonings, electrocutions and collisions) or habitat loss that occurs commonly across the subcontinent. Despite the establishment of numerous vulture restaurants, and years of campaigning to reduce the use of poisons and vulture-unfriendly utility structures in an effort to minimize some of these harmful anthropogenic effects, we note that populations of most vultures continue to decrease.