IUCN Red List Criteria
| Critically Endangered |
|
| Endangered |
A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd |
| Vulnerable |
A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd |
IUCN Red List history
| Year |
Category |
| 2012 |
Endangered |
| 2008 |
Near Threatened |
| 2007 |
Near Threatened |
| 2004 |
Least Concern |
| 2000 |
Lower Risk/Least Concern |
| 1994 |
Lower Risk/Least Concern |
| 1988 |
Lower Risk/Least Concern |
Species attributes
| Migratory status |
not a migrant |
Forest dependency |
Low |
| Land mass type |
|
Average mass |
- |
Distribution
| |
Estimate |
Data quality |
| Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km2) |
11,300,000 |
medium |
| Number of locations |
11-100 |
- |
| Fragmentation |
|
- |
Population & trend
| |
Estimate |
Data quality |
Derivation |
Year of estimate |
| No. of mature individuals |
|
medium |
Estimated |
2001 |
| Population trend |
Decreasing |
poor |
|
- |
| Number of subpopulations |
|
- |
- |
- |
| Largest subpopulation |
|
- |
- |
- |
| Generation length (yrs) |
18.3 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Population justification: The species's global population has been estimated at 270,000 individuals. |
|
Trend justification: Declines have exceeded 90% in West Africa (Thiollay 2006), and have also occurred in other parts of the range including Sudan (Nikolaus 2006) and Kenya (M. Virani in litt. 2006), but populations are apparently stable in Ethiopia (Nikolaus 2006) and Tanzania (D. Peterson in litt. 2006). Virani et al. (2011) documented an apparent decline of c.52% over c.15 years in the numbers of Gyps vultures present in the Masai Mara (Kenya) during the ungulate migration season, while in central Kenya an apparent decline of 69% was noted in the numbers of Gyps vultures between 2001 and 2003 (Ogada and Keesing 2010). As these are visiting individuals from a wide-ranging population, declines observed in the Masai Mara study may be representative of declines in Gyps populations ranging across East Africa from Southern Ethiopia to Southern Tanzania (C. Kendall in litt. 2012). Overall trends are difficult to quantify but are suspected to have exceeded 50% over three generations (55 years). |
Country/Territory distribution
| Country/Territory |
Occurrence status |
Extinct |
Breeding |
Non-breeding |
Passage |
| Angola |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Benin |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Botswana |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Burkina Faso |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Burundi |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Cameroon |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Côte d'Ivoire |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Central African Republic |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Chad |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Congo, The Democratic Republic of the |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Eritrea |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Ethiopia |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Gambia |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Ghana |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Guinea |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Guinea-Bissau |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Kenya |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Liberia |
Vagrant |
No |
|
|
|
| Malawi |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Mali |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Mauritania |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Mozambique |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Namibia |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Niger |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Nigeria |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Rwanda |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Senegal |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Sierra Leone |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Somalia |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| South Africa |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| South Sudan |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Sudan |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Swaziland |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Tanzania |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Togo |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Uganda |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Zambia |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
| Zimbabwe |
Native |
No |
|
|
|
Habitats & altitude
| Habitat (level 1) |
Habitat (level 2) |
Importance |
Occurrence |
| Artificial/Terrestrial |
Pastureland |
suitable |
resident |
| Desert |
Hot |
suitable |
resident |
| Forest |
Subtropical/Tropical Dry |
suitable |
resident |
| Grassland |
Subtropical/Tropical Dry |
suitable |
resident |
| Savanna |
Dry |
suitable |
resident |
| Shrubland |
Subtropical/Tropical Dry |
suitable |
resident |
|
Altitude
|
0 - 3500 m
|
Occasional altitudinal limits
|
|
Threats & impact
| Threat (level 1) |
Threat (level 2) |
Impact and Stresses |
| Agriculture & Aquaculture |
Annual & perennial non-timber crops / Small-holder farming |
Timing |
Scope |
Severity |
Impact |
| Ongoing |
Majority (50-90%) |
Slow, Significant Decline |
Medium Impact: |
| Stresses |
|---|
| Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion |
|
| Agriculture & Aquaculture |
Livestock farming & ranching / Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming |
Timing |
Scope |
Severity |
Impact |
| Ongoing |
Majority (50-90%) |
Rapid Declines |
Medium Impact: |
| Stresses |
|---|
| Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion, Species mortality |
|
| Agriculture & Aquaculture |
Livestock farming & ranching / Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming |
Timing |
Scope |
Severity |
Impact |
| Ongoing |
Majority (50-90%) |
Rapid Declines |
Medium Impact: |
| Stresses |
|---|
| Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion, Species mortality |
|
| Transportation & service corridors |
Utility & service lines |
Timing |
Scope |
Severity |
Impact |
| Ongoing |
Minority (<50%) |
Negligible declines |
Low Impact: 4 |
| Stresses |
|---|
| Species mortality |
|
| Biological resource use |
Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources / Persecution/control |
Timing |
Scope |
Severity |
Impact |
| Ongoing |
Minority (<50%) |
Slow, Significant Decline |
Low Impact: 5 |
| Stresses |
|---|
| Species mortality |
|
| Biological resource use |
Gathering terrestrial plants / Unintentional effects (species is not the target) |
Timing |
Scope |
Severity |
Impact |
| Ongoing |
Majority (50-90%) |
Slow, Significant Decline |
Medium Impact: |
| Stresses |
|---|
| Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion, Species mortality |
|
| Biological resource use |
Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals / Intentional use (species is the target) |
Timing |
Scope |
Severity |
Impact |
| Ongoing |
Majority (50-90%) |
Slow, Significant Decline |
Medium Impact: |
| Stresses |
|---|
| Species mortality |
|
| Pollution |
Agricultural & forestry effluents / Herbicides and pesticides |
Timing |
Scope |
Severity |
Impact |
| Ongoing |
Majority (50-90%) |
Rapid Declines |
Medium Impact: |
| Stresses |
|---|
| Species mortality |
|
Utilisation
| Purpose |
Primary form used |
Life stage used |
Source |
Scale |
Level |
Timing |
| Pets |
Whole |
Adults and juveniles |
Wild |
Subsistence, National |
Non-trivial |
Recent |
| Pets |
Whole |
Adults and juveniles |
Wild |
International |
Non-trivial |
Recent |
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Gyps africanus. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 24/05/2013.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 24/05/2013.
This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000)
Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004)
Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.
To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife
To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums.
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