If it wasn’t for Doñana, it would already be extinct “If we can increase the adult survival rate to the top values recorded in the bibliography, within 10 years we could pass the threshold of 70 pairs that existed in the 1980s,” says Blas. These devices would allow researchers to see in real time where the birds are dying, analyze the cause of death and take action to limit the problem. To address the problem, researchers want the birds to be tagged with GPS tracking devices that can be accessed by remote surveillance teams. We have begun a study on the hormonal system of the species and its relationship to their response capacity to certain ecological aspects,” explains Blas. It’s likely that these problems are interacting with climate change. “The priority is understanding the role these factors have on the population decline. Sergio and Blas are demanding immediate measures to identify, locate and address the threats. These phenomena on a regional level are replicated within the Doñana Nation Park, only that here, because it is a protected area, they occur at a much slower rate, and give the false impression that everything is in order in protected areas,” says Sergio, who co-authored the study on the population decline of the red kite. “Over six decades we have documented a silent and gradual fall in the number of the species, a notable reduction in their distribution area and a deterioration of their reproductive capacity. According to the researcher, the main threats facing the bird are the illegal use of poisons, habitat changes, a decline in prey, exposure to pollution, and an increase in competition with other species.īut none of these reasons alone explains the “historic decline” of the red kite. It is not completely closed off, especially for a species with so much mobility,” warns Blas. “Doñana is important but it’s not enough. Using information taken from field work over nearly half a century, the study found that 40 years ago, an average of 100 red kites were born every year in the reserve. “If it wasn’t for Doñana, it would already be extinct,” says Blas, the co-author of a study on the red kite’s dramatic population decline published in Endangered Species Research. Forty years ago, an average of 100 red kites were born every year in the reserve.
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