Found in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho and some parts of Namibia, it was classified as endangered in 2015, but in 2021 it was downgraded to vulnerable.

Adults are 96cm-115cm long, with a wingspan of 2.26m-2.6m

As well as the countries above it is also occasionally seen vagrant in the Democratic republic of the Congo and Zambia, and It also occurs in Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Eswatini but does not breed there. 

It chooses to nest on cliffs, or in nearby mountains.

It has been declining since at least the 1980s, with the South African population declining 60-70% between 1992-2007. My 2021 the population was estimated to lie between 9600 and 12800, and is classed as vulnerable.

A variety of factors are thought to have been at play, from habitat loss, poisoning of carcasses (which can kill hundreds in one go) either as a means of initially killing the animal, or more directly, in order to kill vultures.