India, Feb. 27 -- The Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres), an Old World vulture species that is resides exclusively in Southern Africa and is threatened due to dwindling numbers, has returned to South Africa's Eastern Cape province after three decades, as per a statement by Vulpro, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to safeguarding African vultures.

Eighty-five wild Cape Vultures were sighted on a farm just 40 kilometres outside Mountain Zebra National Park, in Spitskop Cradock this week, the first sighting in over 30 years, the statement noted.

The sighting comes as a huge relief to conservationists.

"Since the 1980s, Cape Vulture numbers have been steadily declining. Between 1992 and 2007, populations in South Africa reduced by 60-70% an...