Although the adult Egyptian vulture is a conspicuous bird, it has been reliably sighted in the subcontinent of Southern Africa a minimum of only 15 times since 1945 (Fig. 1). In the same period, immatures were seen four times, one of which became a museum specimen. Other recent sight records have been dismissed because of inadequate description or apparent confusion with species such as the palm-nut vulture, tawny eagle and booted eagle. Transkei now seems to be a refuge of the species. Without doubt, the vulture was much more commonly and widely distributed in the 19th century, and featured in many naturalists' books, though these notes still have to be treated with caution. The last known breeding record was in Transkei in 1923. The main reason for the bird's decline almost to extinction seems to have been the collapse of the original ungulate-ecosystem. The species is not restricted to Southern Africa. Therefore conservation action in the subcontinent could arise out of the effort currently directed towards the endemic Cape vulture.