Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 162513888

Saving the Gran Canaria Crested Grasshopper from extinction

The major aims of our project are (1) to obtain a recent population size estimate for the Gran Canaria Crested Grasshopper in the only known locality at the northwestern coast of Gran Canaria, (2) to obtain spatially explicit data on the occurrence of this species in order to identify priority areas for conservation and develop plans to avoid or minimize negative impacts on this species, (3) to study if the species may occur elsewhere close to this new locality, (4) to search for some other Gran Canarian Orthoptera species, which have not been found during recent decades. Without any knowledge on the population size as well as spatial explicit information on its distribution, it will be impossible to propose a suitable conservation management for this species. Therefore, our project will first focus on a census of this species and collect ecological data on its habitat requirements. The data will then be used to develop a conservation strategy in cooperation with the local conservation administration.

A first field trip in summer 2016 led to the discovery of a second population of this species within a protected area. This discovery provides some new hope for the species. While some parts of this population are outside the protected area and under threat by adjacent banana plantations and industrial areas, the largest part is comparatively well protected. The other population in the north of Gran Canaria is very small and probably not viable.