The two prominent bare skin patches at the base of the neck, also found in the white-backed vulture, are thought to be temperature sensors and used for detecting the presence of thermals.

With a mean body mass of roughly 8.9 to 9.22 kg (19.6 to 20.3 lb), it appears to be significantly heavier than wild lappet-faced vultures, despite the latter's extremely large appearance, and rivals only a few other species, namely the great white pelican and kori bustard, as the largest flying bird native to Africa.

[7][8] The Cape vulture is resident and breeding in Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique and South Africa, but is vagrant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia.

[1] They are obligate scavengers, they feed on carrion, eating soft muscles and organ tissues and some bone fragments.

A decrease in the amount of large carrion particularly during nesting, targeted or inadvertent poisoning, loss of foraging habitat, and unsustainable harvesting for traditional uses are thought to be the most important factors.

[1] Electrocution resulting from collision with cables on electricity pylons is the most common cause of death in ringed birds.

It is suspected that they died after eating the carcasses of 3 elephants that were poisoned by poachers, possibly to avoid detection by the birds, which help rangers to track poaching activity by circling above where there are dead animals.

[17][18][19][20] Climate change has contributed as a threat for the endemic species, populations have decreased due to the high temperatures and global warming.

In addition, a combination of top-down, e.g. legislation, and bottom-up such as corrals or compensation is expected to help reduce the problem.