Widespread population collapse of African raptors
Thursday 4 January 2024

An international team of researchers has found that Africa’s birds of prey are facing an extinction crisis.

The report, co-led by researchers from the School of Biology at the University of St Andrews and The Peregrine Fund and published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution (Wednesday 4 January 2024), warns of declines among nearly 90% of 42 species examined, and suggests that more than two-thirds may qualify as globally threatened.

Led by Dr Phil Shaw from St Andrews and Dr Darcy Ogada of The Peregrine Fund, the study combines counts from road surveys conducted within four African regions at intervals of between 20 and 40 years and yields unprecedented insights into patterns of change in the abundance of savanna raptor species.

The study shows that large raptor species had experienced significantly steeper declines than smaller species, particularly on unprotected land, where they are more vulnerable to persecution and other human pressures. Overall, raptors had declined more than twice as rapidly outside of National Parks, Reserves and other protected areas than they had within. Worryingly, many species experiencing the steepest declines had suffered a double jeopardy, having also become much more dependent on protected areas over the course of the study.

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