I can see the eagle angle its head to examine what lies below it. With a deep white band along the edge of their wings and red feet and beaks, these birds are easily identified. A beautiful black eagle called a Bateleur flies over. A vulture or scavenging eagle must determine if there are any predators still lurking and protecting their prey before risking their lives by coming to the ground. Birds will fly over and carefully examine the situation from the sky before choosing to land. At first, we are mostly watching the air.

For the next several hours our job is to observe what comes to the carcass and when something does arrive, we wait and watch carefully, hoping it will be trapped. After setting up our nooses on a fresh carcass, my team and I sit and wait about 50 meters away. Despite not having any real predators and being extremely inquisitive, vultures can be surprisingly cautious. Vulture trapping requires patience, persistence, and luck. Dental floss вЂ“ another strong and waterproof material вЂ“ is my ideal thread for the job and will help when tying the final strap onto the bird.Д«elow: Dr. The straps go around the shoulders and under the legs, so the unit sits securely (and with great sun exposure) on the bird. I have used this to fashion a vulture backpack if you will, that will be used to fasten our satellite tag to the bird. Teflon tape is strong and durable and with an aquarium air hose inside can also be flexible and a bit stretchy. Parachute cord and fishing line are strung together to make nooses вЂ“ large black loops вЂ“ that will be laid along a carcass or dead animal to catch the feet of the vultures. Vultures are strong вЂ“ so our materials need to be as well.

All the essentials for trapping and tagging one of the worldвЂ™s fastest declining but most important birds вЂ“ the African White-backed Vulture. strength fishing line, parachute cord, and most importantly a 70 gram (this is about half the weight of your cell phone) solar-powered satellite telemetry. IвЂ™m sure to bring clothes and my passport, but each trip is also an opportunity to bring out some supplies you might not normally find in Tanzania вЂ“ unscented dental floss, aquarium tubing, Teflon tape (imagine a long thick but very strong rope), 250 lb. My packing list for trips to Tanzania might seem a bit unusual to some. Corinne Kendall, Curator of Conservation and Research for the North Carolina Zoo

Toe the tagger