Population size, breeding rates and conservation status of Eurasian black vulture in the Dadia National Park, Thrace, NE Greece

Abstract

The population of the Eurasian black vulture in the Dadia National Park was nearly extinct in 1979 (26 individuals and 4–5 pairs) and since 1988 it has been the only breeding population in Greece and the Balkans. During the period 1987–2005, the number of breeding pairs increased from 6 to 22. The protection of the nesting sites and the establishment of one supplementary feeding site could have contributed positively to this increase. Overall, during 1994–2005 the number of breeding pairs remained stable but breeding success showed a significant decrease. During this period, two remarkable drops in the number of the breeding pairs were recorded in 1995–1997 and in 2003–2005. Concurrent with these decreases, a considerable number of individual adult fatalities were recorded, caused mainly by the consumption of poisoned carcasses. Poisoning can be considered as one of the main reasons of black vultures mortality in Dadia National Park and the adjacent areas.

Keywords:

• Aegypius monachus
• breeding rates
• population trend
• conservation
• poisoning

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Petros Babakas and Kostas Pistolas (Environmental Office of Evros Prefecture) for their long‐term collaboration in the black vulture monitoring. We thank Prof. V. Goutner for the review of the manuscript. Systematic monitoring of black vulture colony has been supported by WWF Greece since 1994 with the financial support of the LIFE Nature project “Conservation of Birds of Prey in the Dadia Forest Reserve, Greece” (LIFE02/GR/8497) for the years 2002–2005.