• 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. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Near Threatened	A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd
2013	Near Threatened	A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
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		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	8,800,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	1993-2040
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	25-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	25-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	25-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	15.6 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is reported to be still common where undisturbed (del Hoyo et al. 1996). The population in South Africa has been estimated at 2,000-5,000 birds (Barnes 2000).

Trend justification: Senyatso et al. (2012) found that the Extent of Occurrence contracted by 21% in East Africa and 8% in southern Africa since the late 19th century, and there was extensive qualitative evidence for an overall population decline, with considerable pre- and post-1970 population declines in all range states except Zambia and Angola, as well as ongoing changes in the internal characteristics of this species’s range, at least since the early 20th century. In Tanzania, encounter rates dropped considerably since the 1970s outside of national parks in areas such as the Kilimanjaro plains, Lolkisale and Monduli plains, Arusha Chini, Loliondo (N. Cordeiro in litt. 2013). In the South African Karoo the species experiences high levels of mortality owing to collisions with power lines, and collision rates in Namibia are also thought to be extremely high. Estimates of 534 (95% CI 139-931) birds killed annually in the Karoo alone (rising to 721 [95% CI 188-1,256] birds when adjusted for observer search bias) are worryingly high given that the total South African population has been estimated at just 2,000-5,000 birds (Shaw 2013). Although comparison of road census data in the Karoo from the 1980s and 2000s did not find evidence of a decline, it is possible that the area is acting as a population sink for this locally nomadic species (J. Shaw in litt. 2013). Overall trends are hard to piece together, but given the qualitative evidence for range-wide declines, it seems reasonable to suspect that the species is undergoing ongoing declines of 25-29% in 47 years (three generations).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Angola	extant	native	yes
Botswana	extant	native	yes
Eswatini	possibly extinct	native		yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Mozambique	extant	native	yes
Namibia	extant	native	yes
Somalia	extant	native	yes
South Africa	extant	native	yes
South Sudan	extant	native	yes
Sudan	extant	native	yes
Tanzania	extant	native	yes
Uganda	extant	native	yes
Zambia	extant	native	yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Kenya	Nairobi National Park
South Africa	Botsalano Nature Reserve

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	marginal	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	marginal	non-breeding
Desert	Hot	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	marginal	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Savanna	Dry	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 2000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Transportation & service corridors	Utility & service lines	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Kori Bustard Ardeotis kori. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/kori-bustard-ardeotis-kori on 22/11/2024.
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 22/11/2024.