In the Republic of Kazakhstan Eurasian and Himalayan Griffon Vultures and Cinereous Vultures coexist and forage in similar regions and on similar foods. Our work is focused on three high-mountain summer grazing areas (Assy, Ush-kanoor, and Usek) used daily by vultures of all three species. Each of these areas is almost empty in winter, but in summer is filled by yurts and shepherds with their flocks. Large numbers of livestock, especially sheep and cattle, mean that every day some animals will die, thus providing a constant and reliable food resource for the vultures. Previous information suggests that breeding birds that forage in these valleys may raise chicks close by, or they may come from nests many kilometers away to these important foraging sites.

In the Republic of Georgia, biologist Alexander Gavshelishvili has monitored populations of Eurasian Griffon Vultures and Cinereous Vultures for the past 15 years (there are no Himalayan Griffons in Georgia). Population estimates suggest that there are 70-75 pairs of breeding Gyps fulvus in Georgia, but because there is no way to count non-breeders, true population size is almost impossible to guess. As is the case in Kazakhstan, these birds forage extensively on domestic livestock, and in the summers this means that they congregate in and around high-elevation summer grazing areas. This pattern of congregation in foraging groups in both countries is precisely the behavior that makes it possible for us to develop techniques to estimate the size of their populations.

While this work has been ongoing for many years in Georgia, and since 2000 in Kazakhstan, we are entering a new phase in the project. Instead of just monitoring populations through observation, we are now taking lessons learned from non-invasive monitoring of eagle populations and applying them to monitoring of vulture populations. These techniques, although new and exciting, do not produce immediate results. We expect that our first estimates of the population size of vultures in Kazakhstan will not be produced for several years. Regardless, these will almost certainly be the first accurate estimates of population size of any unmanaged population of vultures world-wide.

Funding: This project is currently supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aviary.

For More Information See the Following:

Georgia Field Trip Report on Field Trip Earth

The Wildlife Conservation Society Kazakhstan Program

Katzner, T.E., 2004. Vultures on the verge… of a biological breakdown. Wildlife Conservation. 107:44-47.

Related Scientific Publications

Rudnick, J.A., T.E. Katzner, E.A. Bragin, O.E. Rhodes, Jr., and J.A. DeWoody. 2005. Using naturally shed feathers for individual identification, genetic parentage analyses, and population monitoring in an endangered Eastern imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca) population from Kazakhstan. Molecular Ecology: In press. (pdf)

Katzner, T.E., C.H. Lai, J.D. Gardiner, J.M. Foggin, D. Pearson and A.T. Smith. 2004. Adjacent nesting by Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) and Himalayan Griffon Vulture (Gyps himalayensis) on the Tibetan Plateau, China. Forktail. 20: 94-96. (pdf)

Pain, D.J., A.A. Cunningham, P.F. Donald, J.W. Duckworth, D.C. Houston, T. Katzner, J. Parry-Jones, C. Poole, V. Prakash., P. Round, and R. Timmins. 2003. Causes and impacts of temporospatial declines of Gyps vultures in Asia. Conservation Biology. 17(3): 661-671. (pdf)

Reports of the Workshop “Conservation of Gyps vultures in Asia.” North American Ornithological Conference (2002). (pdf)

Reports of the Workshop “Indian griffon vultures and their problems.” 4th Eurasian Congress on Raptors (2001). (pdf)