[1] It is the most widespread and common vulture in Africa with an estimated range of 24,300,000 km2 (9,400,000 sq mi), but has undergone rapid population declines in recent years.
It was reassessed from a Least Concern to Near Threatened species in the 2007 IUCN Red List after the beginnings of a major decline were noticed.
[7] In October 2015, it was further uplisted to Critically Endangered because the decline had reach a magnitude that puts the vulture at an extreme risk of extinction.
The loss of adults will cause less reproduction and with younger birds less likely to survive, the population will drop drastically.
[8] Regardless of whether the vultures were given an oral or intravenous dose of the substance, the effects was nearly identical and the diclofenac eventually poisoned the subjects.
Another study shows that there are heightened levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HPA's), which is not as likely a product in the endangerment resultant, but still concerning.
HPA's, also known as polyaromatic hydrocarbons, are formations of hydrogen atoms surrounding rings of carbon.
Although there is no direct correlation of the high levels of HPA's in the vultures, there is still a plausibility that it can result in a negative outcome for the species.
It is suspected that they died after eating the corpses 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.
Their primary food sources are the carcasses of large, grazing animals found the wooded savannahs where it lives.
Their beaks are medium-sized not adapted for tearing through tough skin, so they are limited to eating soft tissues, such as the viscera, using a pulling feeding tactic.
[15] White-backed vultures circle through the sky in search of freshly dead animals, often following other scavenger birds and mammalian carnivores to find it.
After feeding, white-backed vultures often rest with their wings spread and their backs facing the sun, as they have gorged themselves so much they can no longer fly.
They typically choose tall trees along riparian habitats and show strong a preference for Acacia species.
[20] Another long-term study conducted in Linyanti, Botswana found that there were rapid declines in nesting numbers during a 10 year period.