Field surveys conducted in 2024 have confirmed the presence of at least 10 breeding pairs of Egyptian Vulture in the Middle Atlas Mountains, Morocco.
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Context and history
The Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is globally classified as “Endangered” and has experienced a severe decline in Morocco, particularly in the second half of the 20th century.
By the early 21st century, some authors feared that the species was on the verge of extinction as a breeding species in Morocco. However, occasional sightings in the breeding season rekindled hope within the Moroccan ornithological community that the species still survives in the country.
In 2014, we carried out a field study in the Middle Atlas Mountains to survey the Egyptian Vulture’s habitat and potentially discover new territories. This expedition led to the discovery of two occupied breeding territories and a communal roost, the first of its kind known in Northwest Africa, hosting 40 vultures of varying ages. These findings, published in the Ostrich journal (Amezian & El Khamlichi, 2016), were significant for several reasons. While only a few breeding sites were located, the communal roost suggested the presence of a potentially larger and healthier population in the surrounding region. Given the species’ unfavourable conservation status, the population discovered in this area was of critical national and regional importance.
It is important to remember that during this period, as researchers and conservationists were raising alarms about the global vulture crisis, Morocco was already facing its own vulture crisis since decades. Three of the country’s five breeding vulture species had already been extirpated: Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus), Lappet-faced Vulture (Torgos tracheliotos), and Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus).
2024 field study
In 2024, with the support of a grant from the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, extensive surveys were carried out in order to gather new data and establish the foundation necessary to initiate the species’ conservation efforts.
The field surveys were conducted, in May and June, by GREPOM/BirdLife Morocco in collaboration with the National Agency for Water and Forests (ANEF). Four participants took part in the surveys: Mohamed Amezian, Mohamed Radi and Abdelhakim Benhamza from GREPOM and Mohamed Noaman from the Department of National Parks and Protected Areas at ANEF.
The main objectives of this year’s study are to monitor the species’ known breeding area, explore an unstudied area to the south, train new personnel in monitoring techniques, and collect data on potential threats and opportunities for the species.
The results are very promising. The survey revealed the presence of at least 10 breeding pairs in the surveyed area. The study also identified some limiting factors to the long-term survival and growth of this population.
One of the achievements of this year’s study was the successful training of two field researchers in techniques of monitoring rock-dwelling raptors: a member of GREPOM (A. Benhamza) and the representative of ANEF. This collaboration proved particularly fruitful when, one month after participating in our field work, M. Noaman discovered a new Egyptian Vulture territory in a region where nesting of the species had not been documented for decades. This discovery not only expanded the known range of the species in Morocco, but also demonstrated the immediate impact of our training efforts and information exchange during the fieldwork.
Another highly encouraging outcome of this research and collaboration is the proposal, based on our data, to designate the core habitat of the Egyptian Vulture as part of Morocco’s protected areas network. This proposal underscores the growing national recognition of the species’ conservation significance and highlights the pivotal role our field research has played in informing national conservation strategies.
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund for their generous financial support, which made this year’s surveys possible. Your commitment to the species conservation has been invaluable to our work.
We are also grateful to the National Agency for Water and Forests (ANEF) for their collaboration. Special thanks go to M. Noaman, whose dedication to species conservation has been exemplary.
We extend our thanks to the GREPOM volunteers who contributed their time and energy to this year’s surveys. Finally, we do not forget those who supported and helped our previous efforts.
