I have recorded King Vultures in open areas between forest fragments in Bolivia (Beni) and Brazil (Bahia). The species is not confined to undisturbed forest and can travel large areas. The species has always been very rare. I have seen now evidence of population change in the last 28 years in Bolivia. There is no specific threat to the species, like hunting or poisoning.
This bird is found in Colombia in open areas, such as grasslands, however, it has become very rare in several locations, especially on the Caribbean coast and the Andes region. It is probable that the bird has already been extirpated in several places (for example, the Magdalena River valley). Trophy hunting was a common practice on the Caribbean coast. Currently, the Llanos region is the only area where this bird can be seen regularly, however, the natural grasslands are also being transformed there. In the Llanos region this bird nests in very old and tall trees. Population estimation is urgent.
Speaking for the northern part of the range, this species is likely in decline in many parts of Central America, although it is sometimes seen in fragmented forested habitats. In Honduras, for example, still common in some parts of the Moskitia, but in most of the country quite uncommon. It seems likely that accelerated deforestation is affecting this species negatively. The Partners in Flight Avian Conservation Assessment Database score for this species for those northern populations is “Watch List Yellow D”, which is used for species facing “steep declines and major threats”.
We see king vultures sporadically in the Reserva Ecologica Michelin, Igrapiuna/Itubera, Bahia. The forests of the reserve and other relatively large tracts of forest in the region are heavily disturbed, being approximately 40% secondary forests (mostly fallows >35 years old) and disturbed primary forest (intensive logging 1950s-1980s). In the REM we have approximately 6% “undisturbed” primary forest that suffered light selective logging. I have seen king vultures in all of the habitat types, including 20 year old secondary forest consisting of mostly pioneer vegetation. This indicates a relative tolerance for forest disturbance and secondary vegetation as there are no large tracts of “pristine” primary forest anywhere in the region. I imagine that king vultures are moving among the coastal forests of our region, flying over agroforests of rubber/cacao and other tree crops.
I agree with Bennett. Some mortlity in Mexico due to birds eating poisoned baits left for jaguars. The species flys long distances and is not forest dependent. I have seen no evidence of population declines.
January 2nd, 2023, I saw one King vulture at Ciénaga de la Tigrera, Rio Viejo, South of the Bolívar Department. The person with me, an artisanal fisherman in his forties who grew up in this region, said that he used to see it more frequently, which is not that common nowadays. This region has been significantly affected by the illegal minery with two effects the depletion of the Tropical Dry Forest and the contamination of the water with mercury.
En el departamento de Cordoba, Colombia hemos registrado la especie en 9 municipios, sobrevolando o comiendo vacas muertas en potreros, pero siempre asociado a bosques conservados o fragmentos de bosques. En el Parque Nacional Natural Paramillo se han registrado hasta 20 individuos que llegan a aprovechar bovinos muertos por tormentas eléctricas o enfermedades, estos grupos están conformados por individuos adultos y juveniles. En la zona no se registran casos de cacería, las personas lo perciben como un ave hermoso e importante por la función que cumplen.
Desde la Sociedad Ornitológica de Cordoba en convenio con el proyecto grande rapaces Colombia el S. papa es una de las especies objetivos, pero no hemos encontrado sitios de anidación para estos monitoreos, las comunidades locales reportan anidación en cuevas y arboles emergentes con cavidades en el tallo, pero estos últimos son cada vez mas escasos por la tala para la obtención de madera .
Desde 1992 mantermos pesquisa ornitologicano Parque Estadual do Guartelá, município de Tibsgi no estado do Paraná, Sul do Brasil. O urubu rei sempre esteve presente em todas as amostragens. Desde 2014 nos dedicamos a monitorar Aves de rapina diurnas nesta unidade de conservação e também realizarmos censos só dessa espécie o número máximo encontrado em uma única contagem foi de 124 indivíduos no vale do rio Iapó onde se situa esse parque.
If there is any real population decline, not anecdotal or a very local analysis, it would have nothing to do with the loss of forest.
Including that (% loss of forest) in any threat analysis will place ALL species circumscribed to the Amazon basin as NT.
The species has a wide distribution throughout the Brazilian territory. And although it is less abundant than other vultures, I see no reason to include the species in the Near Threatened category.
Complementando minhas informações , houve uma variação muito grande para a abundância dessa espécie nas amostragens com um valor mínimo de quatro indivíduos oscilando muito conforme a época do ano. Ainda no Paraná há outros grupos no sudoeste e região central do estado além de vários registros na Serra do Mar…..
The species is present in all biomes in Brazil. In the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais I have always seen it. There are mountain ranges where the species breeds with large numbers of individuals (Raso da Catarina for example). In the southeast of Bahia where I live, it is present in almost every municipality. At least in Brazil I see a favorable situation for the species. It is not hunted and even with the forest reduction it is still frequent.
In the department of Tolima in Colombia, the species is quite scarce, its density is low, with relatively few records. I firmly believe that this is a result of the transformation of the landscape, which brings as a consequence the reduction of the population density of its prey and its cascading effect, the loss of the carrying capacity for the maintenance of the populations of the species.
This species is listed as LC on the Brazilian National Red List (ICMBio 2023). Here is a translation from Portuguese on threats from the national assessment:
“The main threats are hunting and declines in prey abundance that result from this; lead poisoning; and, most importantly, habitat loss and degradation from logging of mature forests and agriculture and cattle ranching (Houston et al., 2019). Habitat loss calculations performed using remote sensing tools available from Google Engine (https://earthengine.google.com/) and MapBiomas (https://mapbiomas.org/), between 1985 and 2020, point to a 13.7% reduction in areas included in the categories of “Forest, Savanna and Grasslands” within the species’ distribution polygon. Based on the data available for the last 35 years, the same rate of decline was extrapolated for two previous years (1983 and 1984), and therefore a habitat loss of 16% is estimated over three generations of the taxon (37 years). Although habitat loss is its greatest limiting factor, there is no evidence in Brazil that habitat loss is sufficient to place this species at risk of extinction in the near future.”
Reference cited:
Houston, D.; Kirwan, G.M. & Marks, J.S. 2019. King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa). In: del Hoyo et al.. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions Barcelona
Source:
ICMBio, 2023. Sistema de Avaliação do Risco de Extinção da Biodiversidade – SALVE. Available at: https://salve.icmbio.gov.br/. Accessed: 9 June 2023.
Authors attributed in species account: Luís Fábio Silveira; Diego Mendes Lima; Fabiane Fileto Dias; Flávio Kulaif Ubaid; Glayson Ariel Bencke; Marcio Repenning; Pablo Vieira Cerqueira; Rafael Antunes Dias; Renata Duarte Alquezar; Thiago Vernaschi Vieira da Costa
The suspected 20% habitat loss in the species’ global range is highly uncertain and does not appear to support the NT category.
The species is present throughout the Brazilian territory and although it has suffered some habitat loss in Brazil, this was not considered sufficient to categorize the species as NT.
Does the percentage of occurrence of the species in Brazilian territory perhaps represent just over 50% of its global distribution?
In this way, LC seems more suitable.
I have been studied carrions in the tropical dry forest of western Ecuador. Their numbers are reduced in the north, I recorded a few in the Jama-Coaque Reserve. A huge population is present in the Bosque Protector Cerro Blanco, Guayas. The community structure showed juveniles from different years. However, this reserve is threatened by urban expansion.
Monroy-Ojeda, Alan. 2022. Spatial analysis of the distribution of the King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) and identification of potential nesting areas for the Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja). Master Thesis. Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, México
Supporting Information:
“Least Concern IUCN status of New World vulture species, especially the king vulture, is based on “extremely limited and fragmented information, bringing to question the reality of their actual status” (Santangeli et al. 2022). Research is lacking for several species of Vultures restricted to the Neotropics (e.g., king vulture, lesser and greater yellow-headed vulture). The cumulative number of studies on the king vulture (23) represents only 4.73% of all New World Vultures scientific publications (Santangeli et al. 2022), whereas no studies focused on population trends have been done for the species (Santangeli et al. 2022).”
“Considering that there is no accurate or updated information about the population size or population size trends of the king vulture, we assessed its conservation status following IUCN criteria and sub-criteria that are based on geographical information (Criteria B, IUCN 2022). We used the R package ConR to estimate the following Red List parameters: Extent of Occurrence (EOO), Area of Occupancy (AOO), number of locations, and proportion of occurrences within protected areas (Dauby et al. 2017, R Core Team 2021)…”
“Based on our occurrence data (n = 7,469 unique occurrences), we estimated an EOO of 15,795,665 km2, an AOO of 27,592 km2 and 4,068 unique localities (Fig. 1.7). This represents a difference of 5,804,335 km2 compared to what Birdlife International (2022) reports for S. papa as its EOO (21,600,000 km2). This updated measure excludes oceanic pixels that are unsuitable habitat for the species. More noticeably is the difference between potential vs. actual distribution models; our potential distribution model predicts a distributional area of 7,719,009 km2, whereas the Actual distribution model has a distributional area of 4,447,384 km2. The shrinking area between what IUCN reports and our updated distribution analysis support the recategorization of the species, changing it from Least Concern to Near Threatened.”
“This study confirms that despite the increase in occurrence information for the species, mainly due to the increase in the use of citizen science platforms such as eBird (Sullivan et al. 2014), our assessment shows that there has been an important area reduction in the three spatial parameters (EOO, AOO, Distribution range) for which we have previous data to compare with. Increasingly alarming, the comparison between the potential distribution model and the actual distribution models shows a reduction of 43.05% on the global scale. These reductions suggest an increased risk of extinction for the king vulture.
Most of the vulture species around the globe have declining populations, and particularly neotropical scavengers have a significant knowledge gap on their ecological requirements and the extent of their distribution (McClure et al., 2018, Santangeli et al. 2022). In particular, accurate distribution estimates are lacking for many tropical forest raptors (Buechley et al., 2019; Sarasola et al., 2018, Sutton et al. 2021). We have used predictive spatial models to address these fundamental issues, to tackle an efficient and cost-effective approach to the conservation of this tropical forest raptor.”
“Considering that the IUCN distribution map of the king vulture (Birdlife 2022) represents an overestimation of the area that we consider the potential distribution, it is even more alarming to compare it with what we report as the current distribution area. The differences between potential and current distributions are result of the actual loss of distributional area owing to the modification of natural habitats by anthropogenic impacts (Ortega-Huerta and Vega-Rivera 2017). Considering that the current distribution is a small fraction of the geographic area reported by IUCN (Birdlife 2021), the species has a higher risk of extinction -based solely on geographic distribution reduction-, that the one that is currently reported (Birdlife 2022).
“ For this matter, our results show the implications of an increase in the extinction risk of the king vulture by the substantial reduction of its EOO and its actual distribution.
Based on these figures, we recommend reviewing the IUCN distributional area for the king vulture, which overestimates the geographic range size for this and other species (Jetz et al., 2007; Peterson et al., 2016; Ramesh et al., 2017, Sutton et al. 2021). The removal of semiarid areas (including portions of the Cerrado in Brazil), and the Humid Pampas, Uruguayan Savannas, Dry Chaco from across the IUCN range would show a more realistic geographic distribution considering the habitat conditions that the species prefers (Howell y Webb 1995).”
Another fact to take into account is the number of countries that list it under some risk category. At the national level Mexico, El Salvador and Panama, enlist it as endangered; Guatemala, Belize, Costa Rica as vulnerable; Ecuador as Near Threatened, Venezuela as a species under special protection. This means that the national environmental laws of several countries already recognize the population decline that this species has been experiencing at the national level, which if considered together, signals an overall population decline.
In Paraguay King Vulture is considered Near Threatened at the national level due to the loss and degradation of forested areas (with deforestation rates among the highest in the Americas). Although there are no population studies, the species appears to have become much rarer during the past 30 years, and is now absent from areas without substantial forest cover.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 26 June 2023. We will now analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 26 June 2023, when discussions will re-open.
Comments submitted via this Forum suggest that the King Vulture is less strictly dependent on forests than assumed for the above assessment, and that the rate of tree cover loss within the range is not a suitable proxy to derive a rate of population decline. Furthermore, there appears to be considerable variation in the population trend: While declines are observed in several countries in Central America as well as in Colombia, parts of Ecuador and in Paraguay, the population appears to be stable and relatively secure in Brazil and Bolivia.
Considering that the majority of the global population is found in Brazil (per Fink et al. 2022, Monroy-Ojeda 2022) it is likely that the declines detected in the periphery of the range are to a certain extent balanced out by the presumed stability in its core. Nevertheless, as there is strong evidence that population reductions are taking place in parts of the range, it is suspected that the overall population is undergoing a slow decline.
In the absence of a direct estimation of the overall population trend, of a suitable proxy to derive a rate, or of a quantification of the actual rate of habitat loss over three generations, the population trend cannot be quantified, and while a continuing decline is recorded the species cannot be assessed against Criterion A.
The species does not meet or approach the threshold for a threatened status under any other Criterion, as explained in the above assessment. Therefore, based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2023 Red List would be to retain King Vulture as Least Concern.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 2 July 2023, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2023 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2023, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
References:
Fink, D., Auer, T., Johnston, A., Strimas-Mackey, M., Ligocki, S., Robinson, O., Hochachka, W., Jaromczyk, L., Rodewald, A., Wood, C., Davies, I., Spencer, A. 2022. eBird Status and Trends, Data Version: 2021; Released: 2022. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. https://doi.org/10.2173/ebirdst.2021
Monroy-Ojeda, A. 2022. Análisis espacial de la distribución del zopilote rey (Sarcoramphus papa) e identificación de áreas potenciales para la anidación del águila harpía (Harpia harpyja). Masters’ Thesis. Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
The species is naturally uncommon everywhere throughout it distribution. Based on its distribution and detection possibility, it may end up as it was more frequent or “less” uncommon in open areas, where the King Vulture can be easily seen when present.
For example it can be identified as frequent in the northwest Tropical Dry Forest in Peru (I have seen it multiple times in TDF), but it is harder to see in Tropical Rain Forests (I add to more than a year in several protected areas there), which doesn’t mean that is less common there.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 10 July 2023.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. King Vulture is recommended to be listed as Least Concern. The urgent need for a direct quantification of the population trend will be noted in the species factsheet.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2023.2 GTB Forum process. The final 2023 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2023, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
I have recorded King Vultures in open areas between forest fragments in Bolivia (Beni) and Brazil (Bahia). The species is not confined to undisturbed forest and can travel large areas. The species has always been very rare. I have seen now evidence of population change in the last 28 years in Bolivia. There is no specific threat to the species, like hunting or poisoning.
This bird is found in Colombia in open areas, such as grasslands, however, it has become very rare in several locations, especially on the Caribbean coast and the Andes region. It is probable that the bird has already been extirpated in several places (for example, the Magdalena River valley). Trophy hunting was a common practice on the Caribbean coast. Currently, the Llanos region is the only area where this bird can be seen regularly, however, the natural grasslands are also being transformed there. In the Llanos region this bird nests in very old and tall trees. Population estimation is urgent.
Speaking for the northern part of the range, this species is likely in decline in many parts of Central America, although it is sometimes seen in fragmented forested habitats. In Honduras, for example, still common in some parts of the Moskitia, but in most of the country quite uncommon. It seems likely that accelerated deforestation is affecting this species negatively. The Partners in Flight Avian Conservation Assessment Database score for this species for those northern populations is “Watch List Yellow D”, which is used for species facing “steep declines and major threats”.
We see king vultures sporadically in the Reserva Ecologica Michelin, Igrapiuna/Itubera, Bahia. The forests of the reserve and other relatively large tracts of forest in the region are heavily disturbed, being approximately 40% secondary forests (mostly fallows >35 years old) and disturbed primary forest (intensive logging 1950s-1980s). In the REM we have approximately 6% “undisturbed” primary forest that suffered light selective logging. I have seen king vultures in all of the habitat types, including 20 year old secondary forest consisting of mostly pioneer vegetation. This indicates a relative tolerance for forest disturbance and secondary vegetation as there are no large tracts of “pristine” primary forest anywhere in the region. I imagine that king vultures are moving among the coastal forests of our region, flying over agroforests of rubber/cacao and other tree crops.
I agree with Bennett. Some mortlity in Mexico due to birds eating poisoned baits left for jaguars. The species flys long distances and is not forest dependent. I have seen no evidence of population declines.
January 2nd, 2023, I saw one King vulture at Ciénaga de la Tigrera, Rio Viejo, South of the Bolívar Department. The person with me, an artisanal fisherman in his forties who grew up in this region, said that he used to see it more frequently, which is not that common nowadays. This region has been significantly affected by the illegal minery with two effects the depletion of the Tropical Dry Forest and the contamination of the water with mercury.
En el departamento de Cordoba, Colombia hemos registrado la especie en 9 municipios, sobrevolando o comiendo vacas muertas en potreros, pero siempre asociado a bosques conservados o fragmentos de bosques. En el Parque Nacional Natural Paramillo se han registrado hasta 20 individuos que llegan a aprovechar bovinos muertos por tormentas eléctricas o enfermedades, estos grupos están conformados por individuos adultos y juveniles. En la zona no se registran casos de cacería, las personas lo perciben como un ave hermoso e importante por la función que cumplen.
Desde la Sociedad Ornitológica de Cordoba en convenio con el proyecto grande rapaces Colombia el S. papa es una de las especies objetivos, pero no hemos encontrado sitios de anidación para estos monitoreos, las comunidades locales reportan anidación en cuevas y arboles emergentes con cavidades en el tallo, pero estos últimos son cada vez mas escasos por la tala para la obtención de madera .
Desde 1992 mantermos pesquisa ornitologicano Parque Estadual do Guartelá, município de Tibsgi no estado do Paraná, Sul do Brasil. O urubu rei sempre esteve presente em todas as amostragens. Desde 2014 nos dedicamos a monitorar Aves de rapina diurnas nesta unidade de conservação e também realizarmos censos só dessa espécie o número máximo encontrado em uma única contagem foi de 124 indivíduos no vale do rio Iapó onde se situa esse parque.
If there is any real population decline, not anecdotal or a very local analysis, it would have nothing to do with the loss of forest.
Including that (% loss of forest) in any threat analysis will place ALL species circumscribed to the Amazon basin as NT.
The species has a wide distribution throughout the Brazilian territory. And although it is less abundant than other vultures, I see no reason to include the species in the Near Threatened category.
Complementando minhas informações , houve uma variação muito grande para a abundância dessa espécie nas amostragens com um valor mínimo de quatro indivíduos oscilando muito conforme a época do ano. Ainda no Paraná há outros grupos no sudoeste e região central do estado além de vários registros na Serra do Mar…..
The species is present in all biomes in Brazil. In the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais I have always seen it. There are mountain ranges where the species breeds with large numbers of individuals (Raso da Catarina for example). In the southeast of Bahia where I live, it is present in almost every municipality. At least in Brazil I see a favorable situation for the species. It is not hunted and even with the forest reduction it is still frequent.
In the department of Tolima in Colombia, the species is quite scarce, its density is low, with relatively few records. I firmly believe that this is a result of the transformation of the landscape, which brings as a consequence the reduction of the population density of its prey and its cascading effect, the loss of the carrying capacity for the maintenance of the populations of the species.
This species is listed as LC on the Brazilian National Red List (ICMBio 2023). Here is a translation from Portuguese on threats from the national assessment:
“The main threats are hunting and declines in prey abundance that result from this; lead poisoning; and, most importantly, habitat loss and degradation from logging of mature forests and agriculture and cattle ranching (Houston et al., 2019). Habitat loss calculations performed using remote sensing tools available from Google Engine (https://earthengine.google.com/) and MapBiomas (https://mapbiomas.org/), between 1985 and 2020, point to a 13.7% reduction in areas included in the categories of “Forest, Savanna and Grasslands” within the species’ distribution polygon. Based on the data available for the last 35 years, the same rate of decline was extrapolated for two previous years (1983 and 1984), and therefore a habitat loss of 16% is estimated over three generations of the taxon (37 years). Although habitat loss is its greatest limiting factor, there is no evidence in Brazil that habitat loss is sufficient to place this species at risk of extinction in the near future.”
Reference cited:
Houston, D.; Kirwan, G.M. & Marks, J.S. 2019. King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa). In: del Hoyo et al.. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions Barcelona
Source:
ICMBio, 2023. Sistema de Avaliação do Risco de Extinção da Biodiversidade – SALVE. Available at: https://salve.icmbio.gov.br/. Accessed: 9 June 2023.
Authors attributed in species account: Luís Fábio Silveira; Diego Mendes Lima; Fabiane Fileto Dias; Flávio Kulaif Ubaid; Glayson Ariel Bencke; Marcio Repenning; Pablo Vieira Cerqueira; Rafael Antunes Dias; Renata Duarte Alquezar; Thiago Vernaschi Vieira da Costa
The suspected 20% habitat loss in the species’ global range is highly uncertain and does not appear to support the NT category.
The species is present throughout the Brazilian territory and although it has suffered some habitat loss in Brazil, this was not considered sufficient to categorize the species as NT.
Does the percentage of occurrence of the species in Brazilian territory perhaps represent just over 50% of its global distribution?
In this way, LC seems more suitable.
I have been studied carrions in the tropical dry forest of western Ecuador. Their numbers are reduced in the north, I recorded a few in the Jama-Coaque Reserve. A huge population is present in the Bosque Protector Cerro Blanco, Guayas. The community structure showed juveniles from different years. However, this reserve is threatened by urban expansion.
The following reply is based and taken from:
Monroy-Ojeda, Alan. 2022. Spatial analysis of the distribution of the King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) and identification of potential nesting areas for the Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja). Master Thesis. Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, México
Supporting Information:
“Least Concern IUCN status of New World vulture species, especially the king vulture, is based on “extremely limited and fragmented information, bringing to question the reality of their actual status” (Santangeli et al. 2022). Research is lacking for several species of Vultures restricted to the Neotropics (e.g., king vulture, lesser and greater yellow-headed vulture). The cumulative number of studies on the king vulture (23) represents only 4.73% of all New World Vultures scientific publications (Santangeli et al. 2022), whereas no studies focused on population trends have been done for the species (Santangeli et al. 2022).”
“Considering that there is no accurate or updated information about the population size or population size trends of the king vulture, we assessed its conservation status following IUCN criteria and sub-criteria that are based on geographical information (Criteria B, IUCN 2022). We used the R package ConR to estimate the following Red List parameters: Extent of Occurrence (EOO), Area of Occupancy (AOO), number of locations, and proportion of occurrences within protected areas (Dauby et al. 2017, R Core Team 2021)…”
“Based on our occurrence data (n = 7,469 unique occurrences), we estimated an EOO of 15,795,665 km2, an AOO of 27,592 km2 and 4,068 unique localities (Fig. 1.7). This represents a difference of 5,804,335 km2 compared to what Birdlife International (2022) reports for S. papa as its EOO (21,600,000 km2). This updated measure excludes oceanic pixels that are unsuitable habitat for the species. More noticeably is the difference between potential vs. actual distribution models; our potential distribution model predicts a distributional area of 7,719,009 km2, whereas the Actual distribution model has a distributional area of 4,447,384 km2. The shrinking area between what IUCN reports and our updated distribution analysis support the recategorization of the species, changing it from Least Concern to Near Threatened.”
“This study confirms that despite the increase in occurrence information for the species, mainly due to the increase in the use of citizen science platforms such as eBird (Sullivan et al. 2014), our assessment shows that there has been an important area reduction in the three spatial parameters (EOO, AOO, Distribution range) for which we have previous data to compare with. Increasingly alarming, the comparison between the potential distribution model and the actual distribution models shows a reduction of 43.05% on the global scale. These reductions suggest an increased risk of extinction for the king vulture.
Most of the vulture species around the globe have declining populations, and particularly neotropical scavengers have a significant knowledge gap on their ecological requirements and the extent of their distribution (McClure et al., 2018, Santangeli et al. 2022). In particular, accurate distribution estimates are lacking for many tropical forest raptors (Buechley et al., 2019; Sarasola et al., 2018, Sutton et al. 2021). We have used predictive spatial models to address these fundamental issues, to tackle an efficient and cost-effective approach to the conservation of this tropical forest raptor.”
“Considering that the IUCN distribution map of the king vulture (Birdlife 2022) represents an overestimation of the area that we consider the potential distribution, it is even more alarming to compare it with what we report as the current distribution area. The differences between potential and current distributions are result of the actual loss of distributional area owing to the modification of natural habitats by anthropogenic impacts (Ortega-Huerta and Vega-Rivera 2017). Considering that the current distribution is a small fraction of the geographic area reported by IUCN (Birdlife 2021), the species has a higher risk of extinction -based solely on geographic distribution reduction-, that the one that is currently reported (Birdlife 2022).
“ For this matter, our results show the implications of an increase in the extinction risk of the king vulture by the substantial reduction of its EOO and its actual distribution.
Based on these figures, we recommend reviewing the IUCN distributional area for the king vulture, which overestimates the geographic range size for this and other species (Jetz et al., 2007; Peterson et al., 2016; Ramesh et al., 2017, Sutton et al. 2021). The removal of semiarid areas (including portions of the Cerrado in Brazil), and the Humid Pampas, Uruguayan Savannas, Dry Chaco from across the IUCN range would show a more realistic geographic distribution considering the habitat conditions that the species prefers (Howell y Webb 1995).”
Another fact to take into account is the number of countries that list it under some risk category. At the national level Mexico, El Salvador and Panama, enlist it as endangered; Guatemala, Belize, Costa Rica as vulnerable; Ecuador as Near Threatened, Venezuela as a species under special protection. This means that the national environmental laws of several countries already recognize the population decline that this species has been experiencing at the national level, which if considered together, signals an overall population decline.
In Paraguay King Vulture is considered Near Threatened at the national level due to the loss and degradation of forested areas (with deforestation rates among the highest in the Americas). Although there are no population studies, the species appears to have become much rarer during the past 30 years, and is now absent from areas without substantial forest cover.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 26 June 2023. We will now analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 26 June 2023, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
Comments submitted via this Forum suggest that the King Vulture is less strictly dependent on forests than assumed for the above assessment, and that the rate of tree cover loss within the range is not a suitable proxy to derive a rate of population decline. Furthermore, there appears to be considerable variation in the population trend: While declines are observed in several countries in Central America as well as in Colombia, parts of Ecuador and in Paraguay, the population appears to be stable and relatively secure in Brazil and Bolivia.
Considering that the majority of the global population is found in Brazil (per Fink et al. 2022, Monroy-Ojeda 2022) it is likely that the declines detected in the periphery of the range are to a certain extent balanced out by the presumed stability in its core. Nevertheless, as there is strong evidence that population reductions are taking place in parts of the range, it is suspected that the overall population is undergoing a slow decline.
In the absence of a direct estimation of the overall population trend, of a suitable proxy to derive a rate, or of a quantification of the actual rate of habitat loss over three generations, the population trend cannot be quantified, and while a continuing decline is recorded the species cannot be assessed against Criterion A.
The species does not meet or approach the threshold for a threatened status under any other Criterion, as explained in the above assessment. Therefore, based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2023 Red List would be to retain King Vulture as Least Concern.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 2 July 2023, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2023 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2023, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
References:
Fink, D., Auer, T., Johnston, A., Strimas-Mackey, M., Ligocki, S., Robinson, O., Hochachka, W., Jaromczyk, L., Rodewald, A., Wood, C., Davies, I., Spencer, A. 2022. eBird Status and Trends, Data Version: 2021; Released: 2022. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. https://doi.org/10.2173/ebirdst.2021
Monroy-Ojeda, A. 2022. Análisis espacial de la distribución del zopilote rey (Sarcoramphus papa) e identificación de áreas potenciales para la anidación del águila harpía (Harpia harpyja). Masters’ Thesis. Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
The species is naturally uncommon everywhere throughout it distribution. Based on its distribution and detection possibility, it may end up as it was more frequent or “less” uncommon in open areas, where the King Vulture can be easily seen when present.
For example it can be identified as frequent in the northwest Tropical Dry Forest in Peru (I have seen it multiple times in TDF), but it is harder to see in Tropical Rain Forests (I add to more than a year in several protected areas there), which doesn’t mean that is less common there.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 10 July 2023.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. King Vulture is recommended to be listed as Least Concern. The urgent need for a direct quantification of the population trend will be noted in the species factsheet.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2023.2 GTB Forum process. The final 2023 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2023, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.