The National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid (MNCN) warns, in a study published in the journal international bird conservationa 35% reduction in the Eurasian bustard population (late Otis), in the last 15 years. The decrease, which means losing more than 3% of the population each year, was verified in 9 of the 17 countries where the species is present. In China and Russia, 89% and 72% of bustards were lost, respectively.
Although the population declines in Spain has been much lower, almost 30%, the case of the Iberian Peninsula is particularly worrying, as 70% of the world’s bustards live here.
“These data mean that from the 44,000 to 57,000 individuals we estimated in 2005, we now have between 31,000 and 36,000 individuals in the world”, explains the MNCN researcher. Juan Carlos Alonso. “The loss of more than 8,000 individuals in our country in less than two decades is very worrying, as Spain has long been the main bastion of this species on the planet, which is why now we have a great responsibility to stop your decline“.
One of the problems that the bustard has to face in our country is the changes in the european agricultural policy (PAC) that is favoring the intensification of farming, after the elimination of fallow lands in 2008. Not having these areas between the crop fields is causing the decline of many populations of bustards and other steppe birds”, warns Alonso. “By eliminating fallows and other uncultivated plots, these birds are unable to find enough food for their young, with a consequent decrease in their reproductive success.”
to continue this negative trend in the world population of bustards as a whole, the status of this currently vulnerable species is expected to change to the threatened category according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The effects of applying conservation measures
The bustard demographic situation has only improved significantly in Germany and Austria, thanks to the strict conservation measures that have been applied since the end of the last century, when both populations reached the brink of extinction. Bustards inhabited the Eurasian steppes for thousands of years, but after the disappearance of the natural steppes, today they only survive in areas with extensive cereal cultivation. That is one of the biggest birds in Europe and the heaviest among those that still retain the ability to fly. MNCN has been working on the Great Bustard project for over 30 years, which focuses its efforts on the study and conservation of this species.
The researchers suggest the urgent adoption of conservation measuressuch as the implementation of agri-environmental programs to improve habitat quality, stricter surveillance and sanctions to prevent poaching in some Asian regions and the burying or diversion of certain sections of power lines in order to reduce collision deaths, main cause of unnatural mortality of this species.
“The recovery of German populations shows that when measures are taken, the situation of the species can improve; The important thing is implement them before the decline is irreversible”, concludes Alonso.
Reference:
Alonso, JC and Palacín, C et al. “Alarming decline in world population of Great Bustard Otis tarries in the last two decades”. international bird conservation.