On July 17, 2024, in Rizhao, a city in Shandong province, eastern China, a man encountered a surprisingly large vulture on his way home on a road.

The vulture, which was entirely black and appeared quite formidable, was seen near a curve in the road.

Capturing the moment on video, the filmer Mr. Yin expressed his astonishment at the size of the bird, questioning, "Is this an eagle?"

Yin exclaimed that he had never seen such a large bird and initially thought it was a person in a costume.

He learned from nearby villagers later that the police had been called, and the bird had been taken into protection.

The vulture is classified as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List since 2002 due to the rapid population decline; it is also considered as the first-class protective animal in China.

河南都市频道、南昌晚报 7月17日 山东日照，男子路边偶遇巨型秃鹫 直呼没见过这么大的 “还以为是人扮演的”
拍摄者：当天在回家的路上 当时看到的第一反应就是 感觉像是人扮演的 一搜发现应该是秃鹫 然后后续听附近村里的村民就说已经报警了 警察就是已经把它带走了（保护起来了）