BEARDED VULTURE POPULATION AND HABITAT VIABILITY ...

Population and Habitat Viability Assessment: Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)
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9. Protection status
Bearded Vultures are not threatened globally (BirdLife International 2000), and are estimated
to have a global range of 10 6 to 10 7 km 2 with a population of 10 4 to 10 5 individuals. It is
however thought that the population is declining worldwide but not at a sufficiently fast rate to
rate its status as anything higher than ‘Least Concern’ (BirdLife International 2004). However,
in southern Africa it is classified as Endangered (Anderson 2000) with about 38% of
population lost in recent times.
Representation in conserved areas: there are between 12 and 19 pairs and between 29
and 49 individuals in six Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Lesotho (Appendix 1; Barnes 1998a),
however, ALL Bearded Vultures breed in Lesotho OUTSIDE of protected areas. Considering
that Lesotho is the heartland of this species (with about 60% of local deme) this is a serious
issue. In South Africa there are Bearded Vultures in IBAs in KwaZulu-Natal: six IBAs with 30
pairs and 61 to 102 individuals (Appendix 1; Johnson, Barnes and Taylor 1998) and in the
Free State two to five individuals, but no breeding pairs in three IBAs (Appendix 1; Barnes,
Colahan, Nuttall and Taylor 1998). Of the 15 IBAs in which Bearded Vultures have been
recorded only six have had any breeding observed – a bleak picture (Appendix 1; Barnes
1998b). Even if these figures are reasonable and if the total number of breeding pairs is about
204 and the total number of individuals is about 630, see above, then this means that only
21% to 24% of breeding pairs and only 15% to 25% of all individuals are within IBAs. In fact,
this conveys a false sense of protection because Bearded Vultures wander far and wide in
their daily foraging and so could spend most of their day outside protected areas.
10. Habitat requirements
In southern Africa, currently restricted to Alpine, Sour and Mixed Grasslands on rugged
mountains and escarpments, all >1 500 m, though this was not the case in the past (Brown
1997a). They forage along ridges and valleys in protected areas but range out over communal
and commercial lands with adult birds more frequently avoiding human habitation, while birds
of all ages can visit vulture restaurants (Brown 1997a).
11. Threats
Each of the major causes of decline are presented and evaluated in terms of their likely impact
(Anderson 2000).
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