• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Climate Change maps
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	A2bc+3bc+4bc	A2bc+3bc+4bc

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Endangered	A2bc+3bc+4bc
2016	Endangered	A2bc+3bc+4bc
2013	Endangered	A2bc+3bc+4bc
2012	Near Threatened	A2b+3bc+4b
2010	Near Threatened	A2b; A3b,c; A4b
2008	Near Threatened	A2b; A3b,c; A4b
2006	Near Threatened
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	1,060,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	4,170,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	234000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2014
Population trend	decreasing	poor	estimated	1977-2010
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	50-79%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	50-79%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	50-79%	-	-	-
Generation length	9.25 years	-	-	-

Population justification:

The most recent available estimates are of c.2,600 pairs in Angola in 2005 (Dyer 2007), c.57,000 pairs in Namibia in 2005 (Crawford et al. 2007, Kemper and Simmons 2015) and c.57,000 pairs in South Africa in 2010–2014 (Crawford et al. 2016). Therefore, the present best estimate of the global population is c. 117,000 pairs, which equates to c.234,000 mature individuals. 

Trend justification: In Namibia the population decreased by 57% over the three most recent generations and is classified as Endangered (Kemper and Simmons 2015). In South Africa, the population also decreased by > 50% during the three most recent generations and is classified as Endangered (Cook 2015, Crawford et al. 2016). The trend in Angola is unknown. However, Angola holds only c.2% of the present global population (see above).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Angola	extant	native	yes
Congo	extant	native			yes
Mozambique	extant	native			yes
Namibia	extant	native	yes
South Africa	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Namibia	Cape Cross lagoon
Namibia	Ichaboe Island
Namibia	Mile 4 saltworks
Namibia	Possession Island
Namibia	Sandwich Harbour
Namibia	Sperrgebiet
South Africa	Dassen Island
South Africa	Dyer Island Nature Reserve
South Africa	False Bay Nature Reserve
South Africa	Orange River Mouth Wetlands
South Africa	Robben Island
South Africa	West Coast National Park and Saldanha Bay islands

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes	suitable	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Rocky Shoreline	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	suitable	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Rapid Declines		High Impact: 8
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Pasteurella multocida	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Arctocephalus pusillus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Larus dominicanus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Pelecanus onocrotalus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Threskiornis aethiopicus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Pollution	Industrial & military effluents - Oil spills	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Whole (>90%)		Rapid Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Cape Cormorant Phalacrocorax capensis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/cape-cormorant-phalacrocorax-capensis on 22/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/12/2024.