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Joint actions to reverse the fate of the Egyptian vulture

Joint actions to reverse the fate of the Egyptian vulture

Large body-sized avian scavengers, including the Egyptian vulture, are globally threatened due to human-related mortality so guidelines quantifying the efficacy of different management approaches are urgently needed. Fourteen years of territory and individual-based data on a small and geographically isolated Spanish population were used to estimate survival, recruitment and breeding success. Their population viability was then forecasted under current vital rates and under management scenarios that mitigated the main sources of non-natural mortality at breeding grounds (fatalities from wind farms and illegal poisoning). Population viability analyses estimated an annual decline of 3–4% of the breeding population under current conditions. Results indicate that only by combining different management actions in the breeding area, especially by removing the most important causes of human-related mortality (poisoning and collisions on wind farms), will the population grow and persist in the long term. Reinforcement with captive breeding may also have positive effects but only in combination with the reduction in causes of non-natural mortality. These results, although obtained for a focal species, may be applicable to other endangered populations of long-lived avian scavengers inhabiting southern Europe. informacion[at]ebd.csic.es Sanz-Aguilar et al (2015) Action on multiple fronts, illegal poisoning and wind farm planning, is required to reverse the decline of the Egyptian vulture in Southern Spain. Biological Conservation  187:10-18 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.03.029