• 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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
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	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	1,182 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	2,160,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	20000-20000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2023
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	9.76 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size is estimated at 30,000-30,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2023), which equates to 20,000-20,000 mature individuals. The overall population trend is considered to be decreasing over three generations (29.28 years) (Wetlands International 2023).

Trend justification:   .

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Botswana	extant	native
Lesotho	extant	native
Namibia	extant	native
South Africa	extant	native

Country/Territory	IBA Name
South Africa	Barberspan and Leeupan
South Africa	Cape Whale Coast
South Africa	False Bay Nature Reserve
South Africa	Kamfers Dam
South Africa	Orange River Mouth Wetlands
South Africa	Spitskop Dam
South Africa	Upper Orange River
South Africa	Verlorenvlei Estuary

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Wastewater Treatment Areas	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Water Storage Areas (over 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Lakes and Flats	suitable	breeding
Altitude	0 - 150 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Clostridium botulinum	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Tadorna ferruginea	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Hybridisation
Natural system modifications	Other ecosystem modifications	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: South African Shelduck Tadorna cana. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/south-african-shelduck-tadorna-cana 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.