Birds of prey in South Africa are in trouble – a study analyses data from 16 years of road counts

By Santiago Zuluaga Castañeda, JdlC Researcher, Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC)
Arjun Amar, Associate Professor, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town
Megan Murgatroyd, Biologist, University of Cape Town

Birds of prey and vultures (raptors) play a vital role in ecosystems, both as top predators and key scavengers. However, compared to many other bird species, raptor populations are declining faster. This is because they need large areas to live in, have low population densities, and reproduce slowly. For these reasons they are vulnerable to human impacts like farming with pesticides, electrocution, collision with wind turbines, or poaching.

In many cases, by the time scientists and conservationists…

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