Priorities for research and action to prevent a New World vulture crisis

Abstract

Proactive approaches are typically more cost-effective than reactive ones, and this is clearly the case for biodiversity conservation. Research and conservation actions for Old World vultures typically followed large population declines, particularly in Asia and Africa. These are clear examples of reactive intensive conservation management. We here contend that there are signs of a potential upcoming continental vulture crisis in the New World. New Word vultures share many of the threats that have decimated their Old World counterparts, such as toxicosis from poisoning and lead. At the same time, we show that quantitative data on key demographic and conservation action aspects are largely lacking for many New World vultures, particularly those restricted to the Neotropics. This knowledge gap prevents us from quantifying population declines, and in turn, to design effective management actions to mitigate and prevent further declines. Essentially, if the current knowledge gaps are not filled rapidly, we will miss the opportunity to apply proactive conservation. We here propose a set of actions to prevent a potential vulture crisis in the Americas.