East Africa Project--Conservation Projects
12 Jun 08
Goal:
Conduct raptor research in threatened habitats to stimulate interest and conservation, help develop local capacity through student training and support, and increase public understanding about the need to conserve raptors and their habitats.
Our East Africa Project is directed at halting the steep decline of raptor populations, many of them on the threshold of collapse. There has never been a greater need to monitor and evaluate raptor abundance and diversity in their historic ranges.
In 2007, we conducted ecological studies on the little-known Pemba Scops Owl which inhabits an island off the Tanzanian coast, and Sokoke Scops Owl in Kenya. The project to wing-tag vultures in Kenya continued and posters were placed at key entrances to the Masai Mara Reserve to encourage visitors to report tagged vultures. We initiated discussions between the Kenya Wildlife Service and conservation organizations to address large-scale raptor deaths caused by the widespread use of carbamate-based pesticides.
Monitoring at Kenya’s Lake Naivasha showed a precipitous drop in the number of African Fish Eagles in 2007, indicating continued loss of nesting and foraging habitat. Our research on the Rüppell’s Griffon Vulture colony at Lake Kwenia resulted in the species being officially upgraded from “least concern” to “near threatened” in the list of globally threatened species.
Long-term studies will enable us to evaluate the viability of species in jeopardy of extinction and develop scientifically sound conservation policies.
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