[4] Rüppell's vulture is considered to be the highest-flying bird, with confirmed evidence of a flight at an altitude of 11,300 m (37,000 ft) above sea level.

[5] Rüppell's vulture is distributed throughout the Sahel region and East Africa, where it inhabits grasslands, mountains, and woodlands.

[3][7][8] Both sexes look alike: mottled brown or black overall with a whitish-brown underbelly and thin, dirty-white fluff covering the head and neck.

[11] A Rüppell's vulture was confirmed to have been ingested by a jet engine of an airplane flying over Abidjan, Ivory Coast on 29 November 1973 at an altitude of 11,300 m (37,000 ft).

[5] It cruises at a speed of 35 km/h (22 mph), but flies for 6–7 hours every day and as far as 150 km (93 mi) from a nest site to find food.

They have an especially powerful build and, after the most attractive soft parts of a carcass have been consumed, they will continue with the hide, and even the bones, gorging themselves until they can barely fly.

[1] Rüppell's vulture is currently listed as an Appendix II species under CITES, which regulates the international trade of animals and plants.

[1] Under this designation, the Rüppell's vulture is defined as not being immediately at risk of extinction, although the current population could become threatened without a careful regulation of trade.

[1] Since 1992, Rüppell's vulture has been occurring as a vagrant in Spain and Portugal, with annual records since 1997, mainly in the Cádiz and Strait of Gibraltar area, but also further north.

These breeding and nesting grounds amass huge numbers of Rüppell's vultures which will raise young and forage in the surrounding area.