The world status of the Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata

Abstract

SummaryThe Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata is prominent in avian conservation because of its high value as the traditional quarry of falconers in Arabia and western Asia; such hunting has often been blamed for severely reducing population levels especially in Arabia, Pakistan and Morocco. This paper reviews current knowledge of the world status of the Houbara Bustard in each of the 31 range states where it has occurred within the last 10 years. On the basis of the evidence available, the overall population is estimated to be between 49,000 and 62,000 birds, made up of 700–750 birds in the Canary Islands, around 10,000 in Africa, and the remainder in the Middle East and Asia (especially Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan). Numbers have apparently declined greatly during this century because of agricultural intensification and other land use changes, often exacerbated by hunting and trapping. Evaluation of the population status and trends against the current Red List criteria of IUCN indicate that the Canary Islands subspecies C. u. fuertaventurae is Vulnerable, while the subspecies C. u. undulata and C. u. macqueenii (as well as the whole species population) could probably also qualify for listing as Vulnerable but it is more appropriate to consider them “Near threatened” for the time being.

Estimation of the Punjab (Pakistan) Wintering Population of the Houbara BustardChlamydotis macqueenii

“…Houbara are being trapped on a large scale (4 000-7 000 per year) and smuggled to Middle Eastern countries (Goriup 1997). Mian (1997c) reported annual decline rate of Houbara as high as 18%.…”

Medical Dilemmas Associated With Rehabilitating Confiscated Houbara Bustards (Chlamydotis Undulata Macqueenii) After Avian Pox and Paramyxovirus Type 1 Infection

“…There are few reliable data on the exact status of houbara bustard populations in the wild but they are generally considered to have declined over most of their range during the last few decades (Collar, 1996;Goriup, 1997).…”

“…It has been suggested that 4,000-7,000 houbaras are traded annually in this way from Pakistan alone (Goriup, 1997). Mortality of birds transported to the Middle East is high and this trade may have more impact on the status of the houbara bustard than direct hunting with falcons (Bailey et al, 2000).…”

Health considerations of the rehabilitation of illegally traded houbara bustards Chlamydotis undulata macqueenii in the Middle East

“…There are few reliable data on the exact status of houbara bustard populations in the wild, but they are generally considered to have declined over most of their range during the last few decades for the following reasons: overgrazing, overhunting, agricultural development and human disturbance (Collar, 1996;Goriup, 1997). Although the houbara bustard has been downlisted from Vulnerable to Least Concern in the 1996 Red List of Endangered Animals (IUCN, 1996), a recent review of the world status of the houbara bustard by Goriup (1997) considered that the C. u. macqueenii population should be considered as 'Near Threatened'.…”

“…1) where they are used by some falconers to train their falcons. It has been suggested that 4000-7000 houbaras are traded in this way from Pakistan each year (Goriup, 1997), while accurate information on the flow of birds from other countries is unknown. The mortality of the birds transported to the Middle East is high and entire shipments can die after arrival in Gulf countries.…”