Vulnerable Andean condors in steep decline

Abstract

Despite being an iconic species and the national bird of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador, the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) is moving fast toward extinction. Its world population, which probably does not exceed 6700 individuals (1, 2), is worryingly declining throughout its range, particularly due to massive poisoning events (1) to which the species is especially prone because of its highly gregarious behavior at carcasses (3). In 2018, 34 individuals in western Argentina died after consuming a deliberately poisoned carcass placed to eliminate mammals perceived as livestock predators (4). On 6 February, another 34 condors died in southern Bolivia, in similar conditions (5). Because of events like these, the Andean condor was recently uplisted to a designation of globally Vulnerable (1).