Over five years in the making, The State of South Africa’s Birds 2018 report used national survey and monitoring data to create a picture of the conservation status of the country’s birds and their habitats. Unfortunately, the study outlines several troubling tends. Overall, it found that 132 of the 856 species in the country were threatened or near-threatened in the country, with 13 Critically Endangered – just one step away from being extinct in South Africa.
The picture for seabirds in particular looks especially grim; 27 types of seabird are threatened to some degree, with one – Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena, Critically Endangered globally. Three more, Leach’s Storm Petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa, Damara Tern Sternula balaenarum and Crozet Shag, a subspecies of Imperial Shag Phalacrocorax Atriceps, are Critically Endangered nationally. In total, seabirds make up over a third of the birds in South Africa which are threatened or Near-Threatened. This mirrors a worldwide trend, where seabirds are declining faster than any other comparable group.
Source: Bird Life International, 12 March 2018
http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/new-report-south-africa%E2%80%99…
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