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The
Hawk Conservancy Trust
Charity No: 1092349 - Company No: 4304161 |
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Sarson Lane, Weyhill, Andover, Hampshire. SP11 8DY,
UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1264 773850. Fax: +44 (0) 1264 773772. Email info@hawkconservancy.org |
This project is run as a partnership between The Hawk Conservancy Trust and the Birds of Prey Working Group of the Endangered Wildlife Trust (South Africa) and is registered with South Africa National Parks. Fieldwork is currently concentrated in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Additional fieldwork is carried out in Mozambique with the generous support of Bahati Adventures.
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Photo courtesy of Mark Muller/BirdLife
Botswana |
The White-headed Vulture Aegypius (Trigonoceps) occipitalis (WhV) is the least well-known vulture species in Africa. There has been no comprehensive study done of this species and, compared with other vultures, relatively little is known about its basic biology. Key features such as feeding ecology and factors affecting breeding performance remain poorly understood.
In 2007, the category of risk assigned to the WhV by The World Conservation Union (IUCN) increased to ‘Vulnerable’ (BirdLife International, 2007). This assessment incorporates recently reported severe declines in West Africa. These declines have exceeded 60% in protected areas, whilst the species has completely disappeared from rural areas (Rondeau & Thiollay 2004; Thiollay 2006; Thiollay 2007).
In southern Africa the population was estimated to number 500 pairs (Mundy, 1997) and has been revised more recently to 430 pairs (Monadjem, 2004). Zimbabwe holds a significant proportion of the regional breeding population (Mundy, 1997), whilst in South Africa, the Kruger National Park and neighbouring conservation areas contain the largest population of WhVs in South Africa (Tarboton et al., 1987; Anderson, 2000). In southern Africa, the species is largely confined to conservation areas (Anderson, 2000; Piper, 2005).
It is essential to understand the reasons why protected areas are so important for White-headed Vultures, particularly compared to other vulture species. Overall, vultures are a key ecological group currently facing a variety of threats across their range. Understanding their ecological requirements and how these relate to ecosystem function is an important component of overall biodiversity conservation and management.
There are four primary areas of investigation for the White-headed Vulture project:
Kruger National Park (KNP) is the core study area for the project, with additional work underway at Coutada 10 in central Mozambique. Comparative work is planned for other areas of South Africa as well as adjacent countries such as Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
This research project is the major component of a broader conservation objective: To repatriate to the wild a number of White-headed Vultures that were confiscated by the authorities in Italy. These confiscated birds were part of a much larger shipment comprising approximately 250 vultures of at least four species (WhV, Rüppell’s Griffon, Hooded Vulture and African White-backed Vulture). Many of these vultures are housed and cared for at The Hawk Conservancy Trust.
Prior to any potential release, it is clear that extensive research must be completed to understand fully the ecological requirements and inter-specific dynamics of the species. However, even when this baseline research is complete, there are many other factors that must be addressed before any repatriation is considered. Funding, stakeholder and partner development, permits, logistics, health screening and monitoring are just some of the planning components.
The project will be long term, but the Trust is committed to achieving the goal of repatriation through a combination of strategic alliances, careful planning and research.
Please contact Campbell Murn, Chief Scientific Officer at the Trust, for any queries about this project – campbell@hawkconservancy.org
Anderson, M.D. (2000). White-headed Vulture Trigonoceps occipitalis. In: Barnes, K.N. (Ed.). The Eskom Red Data Book of birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. (pp 79-81). BirdLife South Africa, Johannesburg.
BirdLife International (2007) Species factsheet: Trigonoceps occipitalis. Accessed http://www.birdlife.org on 18/1/2008
Monadjem, A. (2004) White-headed Vulture Trigonoceps occipitalis. In: Monadjem, A., Anderson, M. D., Piper, S. E. & Boshoff, A. F. (Eds) The Vultures of Southern Africa – Quo Vadis? Proceedings of a workshop on vulture research and conservation in southern Africa. (pp 34-39) Birds of Prey Working Group, Johannesburg.
Mundy, P. J. (1997) White-headed Vulture Trigonoceps occipitalis. In: Harrison, J. A., Allan, D. G., Underhill, L. G., Herremans, M., Tree, A. J., Parkers, V., & Brown, C. J. (Eds) The atlas of southern African Birds. Vol. 1: Non-passerines. (pp: 164-165) BirdLife South Africa, Johannesburg.
Piper, S. E. (2005) White-headed Vulture Aegypius occipitalis. In: Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ, Ryan PG (eds) 2005 Roberts – Birds of Southern Africa, VIIth ed. (pp 492-493) The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
Rondeau, G. & Thiollay, J. M. (2004) West African vulture decline. Vulture News 51: 13-31
Tarboton, W. R., Kemp, M. I. & Kemp, A. C. (1987) Birds of the Transvaal. Transvaal Museum, Pretoria
Thiollay, J.M. (2006) Severe decline of large birds in the Northern Sahel of West Africa: a long term assessment. Bird Conservation International 16: 353-365
Thiollay, J.M. (2007) Raptor population decline in West Africa. Ostrich 78: 405-413
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