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Changes in nesting numbers and breeding success of African White-backed Vulture Gyps africanus in north-central Botswana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2020

LEUNGO B. L. LEEPILE Open the ORCID record for LEUNGO B. L. LEEPILE [Opens in a new window] ,
GLYN MAUDE ,
PETE HANCOCK ,
RICHARD P. READING ,
BRIAN BRIDGES ,
ROBYN HARTLEY  and
ARJUN AMAR Open the ORCID record for ARJUN AMAR [Opens in a new window]
LEUNGO B. L. LEEPILE*
Affiliation:
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch7701, South Africa. Raptors Botswana, Private Bag HA 33 HAK, Maun, Botswana.
GLYN MAUDE
Affiliation:
Raptors Botswana, Private Bag HA 33 HAK, Maun, Botswana. Denver Zoological Foundation, 2300 Steele Street, Denver, Colorado80205USA.
PETE HANCOCK
Affiliation:
Raptors Botswana, Private Bag HA 33 HAK, Maun, Botswana.
RICHARD P. READING
Affiliation:
Raptors Botswana, Private Bag HA 33 HAK, Maun, Botswana.
BRIAN BRIDGES
Affiliation:
Raptors Botswana, Private Bag HA 33 HAK, Maun, Botswana.
ROBYN HARTLEY
Affiliation:
Wildlife ACT, Private Bag 114, Maun, Botswana.
ARJUN AMAR
Affiliation:
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch7701, South Africa.
*
*Author for correspondence; email: [email protected]
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Summary

African White-backed Vultures were recently uplisted to ‘Critically Endangered’ by IUCN due to declines across their range. Poisoning is widely accepted as the major reason for these declines. Botswana supports a high number of this species (breeding pairs > c.1,200), but as yet no published information exists on their breeding success in the country. However, mass poisonings within Botswana and neighbouring countries have killed thousands of White-backed Vultures in recent years. We therefore expected that nesting numbers may have declined in this region if these poisoning events killed local breeding birds. We used information from aerial surveys conducted between 2006 and 2017 in Khwai and Linyanti, two important breeding areas for this species in north-central Botswana, to determine if there was any change in nesting numbers and breeding success of White-backed Vultures. Results showed an overall 53.5% decline in nesting numbers, with a greater decline in Linyanti than in Khwai. In both areas, breeding success was significantly lower in 2017 than it was 10 ten years earlier. We recommend that similar repeat surveys are continued to provide greater confidence in the trends of both nesting numbers and breeding performance. Population viability analysis suggested that if the productivity levels detected in 2017 were a true indication of current productivity levels for this population, and if recent high poisoning rates continue, this population could be extirpated from the area in the next 13 years.

Keywords

RaptorsAerial surveysAfrican-scavengersBreeding successPopulation declinesLocal extinctionPoisoningPVA
Type
Research Article
Information
Bird Conservation International , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , September 2020 , pp. 456 - 473
Copyright
© BirdLife International, 2020

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