Raptor numbers in freefall across Africa
Rampant development and climate change are leading to declines in large areas of the continent
Large raptors, including many species of eagle, are declining at alarming rates outside of protected areas in Africa, according to new research in Nature Ecology & Evolution. Populations of 10 species with a body mass of more than 1.3kg have plummeted by 80 per cent over a period of 30 years, with those of another 11 species halving during the same time period.
As a result, according to the study, the African hawk-eagle, designated as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List, merits being reclassified as Critically Endangered, while Beaudouin’s snake-eagle would go from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered. Bateleurs, martial eagles and secretarybirds all suffered 80 per cent declines, too.
The research was carried out by counting raptors along road transects in Mali, Burkino Faso and Niger in West Africa, Cameroon, Kenya, Botswana and South Africa.
One of the co-authors of the report, Darcy Ogada, Africa program director at the Peregrine Fund, says the
Darcy Ogado, co-author of the study scale of the declines are shocking but not surprising given the pace of development in countries such as Kenya and ongoing droughts impacting prey availability. Roads and transmission lines both have a devastating effect. Roadkill attracts carrioneaters such as vultures and eagles, which can then become victims themselves, while birds get electrocuted on the lines or hit pylons. Another co-author, Phil Shaw, an honorary research fellow at the University of St Andrews, said he hoped the findings would result in many of Africa’s large raptors having their designations changed by the IUCN. Whether there is an increase in funding to bring back populations remains to be seen. “The priority list in Africa consists of rhinos at the top, elephants right next to them and then lions and other big cats,” Ogada said. “My instinct tells me that close to 95 per cent of all funding for wildlife conservation goes to those top layers.”