Breeding performance and population trend of the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus in Bulgaria: conservation implications

The Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) has been classified as 'Endangered' due to rapid population declines across its range. Thus, exhaustive studies on its demography may serve as an important stepping stones for successful conservation programs. Breeding performance is one of the main components of the demography of a raptor population. Evaluating reproductive rates is easier than other demographic parameters, while remaining a very useful metric to identify factors driving raptor population trends. Here we present the breeding performance of the species' population in Bulgaria as a result of a long-term monitoring (2005-2016). The studied population shows high breeding performance, based on a breeding success (1.11 +/- 0.13 fledglings / laying pairs), productivity (0.88 +/- 0.1 fledglings / occupied territories) and fledgling success (1.2 +/- 0.1 fledglings / successful pairs), all among the highest recorded in Europe. Pairs breeding in territories with high occupancy rate produced 88% of the fledglings. However, over the last 14 years the Egyptian Vulture population in Bulgaria has declined with 51.7%. We discuss the causes underlying these results and recommend the implementation of conservation measures on a larger scale in order to secure the survival of the species in the country.