Puffins and turtle doves at risk of being wiped out, say experts

Puffin and turtle dove numbers across the globe have plummeted so rapidly the birds now face the same extinction threat as the African elephant and lion, say conservationists.

Atlantic puffins and European turtle doves have been added for the first time to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of species at risk of being wiped out.

In total, four UK bird species have been added to the new list, doubling to eight the number of bird species commonly seen in Britain now given official “vulnerable” status. A further 14 UK species are considered “near threatened”.

African vultures fare even worse, with six of the 11 vulture species now deemed “critically endangered” – the highest category of threat before extinction – mainly due to the indiscriminate laying of poisoned bait for leopards, lions or hyenas, deliberate poisoning by poachers, and the use of vulture body parts in traditional medicine, the RSPB said.

Martin Harper, the RSPB’s conservation director, said: “Today’s announcement means that the global wave of extinction is now lapping at our shores. The number of species facing extinction has always been highest in the tropics, particularly on small islands. But now the crisis is beginning to exact an increasingly heavy toll on temperate regions too, such as Europe.

“The erosion of the UK’s wildlife is staggering and this is reinforced when you talk about puffin and turtle dove now facing the same level of extinction threat as African elephant and lion, and being more endangered than the humpback whale,” he said.

The crash in Atlantic puffin numbers in Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, which together hold 80% of the European population, has been linked to climate change and fishing practices. In Britain there have been significant losses on Fair Isle and Shetland, though elsewhere in the UK numbers are better.

Though puffin numbers remain in their millions in Europe, there have been worryingly high breeding failures at key colonies. Dr Richard Gregory, the RSPB’s head of species monitoring, said: “The red listing is driven by the declines in Europe, where most of the population is, particularly in Iceland and Norway.”

The small bird faced a “long list of threats”, he said. Research showed puffins were particularly susceptible to shifts in sea temperatures, thermal mixing and extreme weather, all affecting their prey species of sand eels, sprats and other small fish.

Gill net fisheries and invasive predators such as rats, cats and mink on the islands where they breed, as well as fishing of their prey species, have also contributed to the decline, he said.

The turtle dove, once a familiar summer visitor to much of Europe, including south-east England, has suffered declines across the continent of more than 30% over the past 16 years. The decline in the UK has been particularly high, with more than nine out of every 10 birds lost since the 1970s.

“We are researching a number of different reasons why, including changes in agricultural practice across Europe, which means a struggle to find food and nesting sites,” said Grahame Madge, an RSPB spokesman.

As a migratory bird across two continents, it is vulnerable to being hunted while migrating. “We do know there is strong illegal hunting of turtle dove around the Mediterranean,” said Madge. Changes in land-use patterns and climate shifts in sub-Saharan Africa are also deemed to have potentially impacted on the birds.

The Slavonian grebe, mainly found in North America but also in decline in the Scottish Highlands, is evaluated as “vulnerable” in the list, announced on Thursday by BirdLife International on behalf of the IUCN.

UK wading birds added to the “near threatened” category include the knot, curlew, sandpiper, bar-tailed godwit, oystercatcher and lapwing. Among sea ducks, the long-tailed duck and the velvet scoter are listed as “vulnerable”, as is the pochard.

The vulture crisis has now spread from Asia to Africa, with the situation described as “incredibly serious”. In Asia, vultures have experienced a 99.9% decline as farmers treat livestock with the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, which is poisonous to vultures, said Madge.

African vultures had been doing better, but are now suffering from poisons set out for leopards or hyenas by farmers protecting stock. A growing threat is from poachers. “Poachers are putting out poison to try and ensure the vultures don’t give away their crime,” the RSPB spokesman said.

Vultures are also killed in the belief that ingesting their brains bestows special powers. “So this is very troubling for vultures. We have seen the declines in southern Asia, and now we are seeing this very dramatic decline in their populations in Africa, through persecution, incidental or deliberate,” he added.