When Birdlife South Africa announced that it had discovered a new bird species called the tuluver, some ornithologists were sceptical. After extensive social media buzz, it was revealed that tuluver was in fact an anagram of a more familiar but endangered bird: the vulture. On September 5, International Vulture Awareness Day, it was time to improve the image of a bird that suffers because of its association with death. A campaign film explained the importance of vultures to the eco-system and added a final message: “If we can get this passionate about discovering a new species, why can’t we get as passionate about losing one?”
