Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 1025975

The project "Population count and threats assessment for the Egyptian vulture in the largest wintering congregation of the species in Africa" aims to support the Egyptian Vulture conservation in big part of its range. Though hard data is often lacking, at least for some populations (e.g. Bulgaria, Macedonia), the species decline is caused to a significant extent by low survival in the non-breeding areas occuring during migration and wintering.

The main project activities are:

1) Determining of the wintering population in the area through roost and road counts;

2) Survey on the mortality factors in the area through conducting of surveys on electrocution, collision, poisoning and poaching;

3) Build local capacity for future conservation work on the species;

4) Disseminate the findings of the project and inform the needed future conservation measures.

The project area is located in the Afar triangle on the territories of Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea but it also includes parts of Northwest Kenya and Northeast Sudan. The Afar triangle harbours the biggest known wintering congregation of the Egyptian vulture with thousands of wintering birds. They probably originate from wide area of the Palaearctic breeding range from Eastern Europe through the Middle East to Central Asia. Possibly significant part of these birds, but less than half, could be African residents (mainly from Ethiopia) mixed with the migratory population. Thus by revealing the scale of the threats during wintering and by planning the future conservation activities and local capacity building, the project will contribute to the project will support the conservation of the Egyptian Vulture in big part of its global range.

The field implementation of the project activities is led by the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds in cooperation with local partners in Ethiopia (Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society), Sudan (Sudanese Wildlife Society), Kenya (Nature Kenya and Peregrine Fund), Djibouti (Djibouti Nature) and Eritrea (Dawit Brhane, Solomon Abraha, Jason Anderson).

Information for the 2010 expeditions to Sudan and Ethiopia can be found on the links below:

http://www.africanraptors.org/a-death-trap-for-egyptian-vultures-in-africa-by-ivailo-angelov/

http://www.neophron.bspb.org/news-en/101011.html

http://www.neophron.bspb.org/news-en/101222.html

http://www.birdlife.org/community/2011/01/the-egyptian-vulture-what%E2%80%99s-going-on-in-africa/