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Gypaetus barbatus

Assessor: Melissa Whitecross

Other assessors
Sarah Schumann
Sensitive in 2010
No
Family
Accipitridae
Reason for the sensitivity status
Sightings records of these birds on carcasses and flying over-head will be unlikely to have a negative impact on their well-being, however, we are of the opinion that specific details on nesting sites of these birds should be sensitised and only released at a pentad/QDGS scale.
This species is extremely rare in the wild and is known to be exploited, utilised or traded. The localities of remaining populations need to be protected to avoid any further exploitation, which is likely to drive it to extinction.
Exploitation extent
Significant - wild individuals of the species are known to be exploited, collected, traded or utilized in a targeted manner, and utilisation is widespread, affects the majority of wild populations and/or is causing rapid decline of the wild population.
Justification and references

Bearded Vultures, as with many other vulture species are targeted for use in traditional medicine and trade in wildlife parts (Maphisa 1997). In Lesotho the birds are also recorded as a food source for locals (Maphisa 1997). BirdLife International (2022) notes that the species may be hunted in Africa for food as well as used for traditional medicine.

Active trapping of these birds in gin-traps has been recorded in the Free State (Colahan 2004) and Lesotho (Maphisa 1997).

References:

BirdLife International (2022) Species factsheet: Trigonoceps occipitalis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 29/05/2022.

Colahan, B.D. and Esterhuizen, J.R., 2004. The status and conservation of vultures in the Free State Province, South Africa. The Vultures of Southern Africa–Quo Vadis?, p.81.

Maphisa, D.H., 1997. Vultures in Lesotho: past, present and future. In Vultures in the 21st century: proceedings of a workshop on vultures research and conservation in southern Africa. Johannesburg: Endangered Wildlife Trust (pp. 90-6).

Population vulnerability
Population is vulnerable: size is <= 2500 mature individuals OR the number of known subpopulations is <= 5 OR range is <= 100km2 OR species at risk of localised extinctions
Justification and references

The current estimates for the southern African population of Bearded Vultures is 200 mature individuals (Krueger et al. 2014).

References:

Krueger, S.C., Allan, D.G., Jenkins, A.R. and Amar, A., 2014. Trends in territory occupancy, distribution and density of the Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus meridionalis in southern Africa. Bird Conservation International, 24(2), pp.162-177.

Targeted demographics
Mature (breeding) individuals are killed, significantly weakened or are permanently removed from the wild, OR immature individuals are targeted and this significantly impacts mature (breeding) individuals.
Justification and references

A study of 21 tracked Bearded Vultures indicated that 42% of monitored individuals died to poisoning (Krueger et al. 2014). Electrocutions and collisions with powerlines have also been stated as a major threat (Krueger et al. 2014).

References:

Krueger, S.C., Allan, D.G., Jenkins, A.R. and Amar, A., 2014. Trends in territory occupancy, distribution and density of the Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus meridionalis in southern Africa. Bird Conservation International, 24(2), pp.162-177. 

Regeneration potential
This species has a slow population growth rate, or the growth rate varies depending on habitat, and there is a poor chance the wild populations will recover from exploitation OR a collector might feasibly harvest the entire extant population removing the chance of subsequent recruitment.
Justification and references

As with all large raptors, breeding rates are slow with an annual survival of fledglings up to 4 years old of only 12% (Mundy et al. 1992). Adult birds have an annual survival of 95% (Mundy et al. 1992).

References:

Mundy, P.J., 1992. The vultures of Africa. Acorn Books.

Reference file
Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) - BirdLife species factsheet.pdf205.84 KB