Over 100 endangered Himalayan vultures spotted in SW China's Yunnan

Photo shows a group of Himalayan vultures. (Photo/Mao Xin’an)

A flock of over 100 Himalayan vultures, which is a second-class national-protected bird species in China, was recently spotted hovering over the rocky mountains of Baoshan city, southwest China's Yunnan Province.

These vultures would often settle on nearby hills, which attracts a large amount of visitors to the area. "I will notice a group of 'big eagles' on cliffs in the rocky mountains every winter, and I came across hundreds of them a few days ago," said a local villager.

The "big eagles" that the local villagers refer to are actually Himalayan vultures, which live in high altitude mountains, grasslands and river valleys at an elevation of 2,500 to 4,500 meters, sometimes settling together in groups on mountain rocks or slopes.

Himalayan vultures mainly feed on carrion and the corpses of dead animals and generally do not attack live animals. This scavenging bird was listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species in 2017.