The Cape Vulture is one of the best known vultures and can only be found in Africa. Up in the air they appear peaceful and beautiful, but down on the ground they are, to most people, unattractive and obstinate. This is because of what they look like and how they act. Their unattractiveness is due to their bare heads and pink featherless necks with only a few feathers at the base. This allows them to reach into difficult areas of their food.

The adult vulture is whitebacked with honey coloured eyes. The immature vulture has a warmer brown coloured back. They also have large beaks which allow them to tear flesh apart from large, decaying corpses of mammals. They are slowly decreasing in number with increasing agricultural developments and improved hygiene, therefore they go unnoticed for removing carcasses which are highly infectious. Although people discriminate the cape vulture because of its appearance, it is a useful and necessary part of the ecology.