Wildlife ACT’s Remote Operations Room Manager, Cathy Hue, shares her journey to becoming a dedicated advocate for Vultures and her passion for raising awareness about these important scavengers.
I was nine years old when my parents took me to the Kruger National Park for the very first time. I knew right then that I wanted to work with wild animals. My Mom tells me that after being in the Park for less than an hour, I announced: "When I am big, I am going to work here.”
That love of wildlife never wavered. Other teenagers had posters of pop stars and actors on their walls - while I had posters of Leopards, Elephants, Rhinos, and eagles!
Unfortunately, life had other plans, and I ended up studying teaching. But I was always restless and moved from one career to the next without ever finding my happy place.
In my thirties, I worked in casinos and spent most of the money travelling to different Game Reserves in South Africa and other parts of Africa. I even took a two-year contract at a casino in Tanzania so that I could experience the Great Migration in Serengeti.
A Conservationist at Heart
A bit later on, I decided it was finally time to follow my dream of working in the bush, and left the glamour of the casino industry behind me.
I did a field guide training course and then studied Nature Conservation through UNISA. I also joined the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Honorary Officer volunteer group at Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve in Durban, doing volunteer conservation work.
The more I learned about the issues faced by wildlife species, the more determined I was to work in conservation. I so badly wanted to help animals to survive all of the pressures placed on them by mankind. Maybe it is a maternal instinct to want to protect the innocent.
My good friend was working for Wildlife ACT, and I asked her to let me know if they ever had any job opportunities. And in 2010 I finally got my first proper job in conservation - working as Wildlife ACT’s first Priority Species Monitor in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. My dream had finally come true!
Becoming a Vulture Protector
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After five years, though, I had to leave for personal reasons, but I did not give up my career in conservation. I was able to get a few contracts with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife where we lived (at Phongolo Nature Reserve), and I joined their Honorary Officer group. This was when my passion for Vultures was ignited. And then I got a part-time job with Wildlife ACT there, doing Vulture work.
I did over 250 Vulture Counts at Phongolo Nature Reserve. These involved placing a carcass in the field for Vultures, and then monitoring the carcass from the time it was placed until the Vultures had finished feeding on it. With large carcasses (such as giraffes), I would monitor from sun-up to sun-down (sometimes 12 to 14 hours) for two to three days.
There were a few reasons for these counts: to supply a safe feeding site for Vultures, to note the numbers and ages of each of the Vulture species that fed on the carcasses, and to report on Vultures that had tags and or backpacks.
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I ended up learning so much about Vulture behaviour during these counts, and the knowledge that I gained has made me far more efficient at doing the electronic monitoring that I am now doing for Wildlife ACT.
Unfortunately I had to resign when my partner was transferred to Ithala Game Reserve - where there are no Vultures! It was heart-breaking, but I joined the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Honorary Officer group on Ithala, and did a lot of Vulture education work there.
And then, in 2025, my dreams came true once again - Wildlife ACT offered me part-time work doing remote Vulture monitoring. And I hope to continue with this work until I can no longer see the Vulture tracks on the laptop screen!
Passionate, inspiring individuals such as Cathy work hard to protect South Africa's threatened Vulture species. Learn more about the work that Wildlife ACT does with Vultures, and how you can get involved, here.
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