• 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
A2abcd+3bcd+4abcd	A2abcd+3bcd+4abcd	A2abcd+3bcd+4abcd; C1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Critically Endangered	A2abcd+3bcd+4abcd
2016	Critically Endangered	A2bcd+3bcd
2015	Critically Endangered	A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd
2012	Vulnerable	C1+2a(ii)
2008	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2007	Vulnerable
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)	21,100,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	22,100,000 km2	medium
Number of locations	11-100	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2500-9999 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2015
Population trend	decreasing	poor	estimated	1995-2026
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	59-94%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	59-94%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	59-94%	-	-	-
Generation length	10.42 years	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: An old estimate of 7,000-12,500 mature individuals was extrapolated from a number of regional estimates. This equates to 10,500-18,750 individuals in total. However, a new estimate of the global population suggests the population is much smaller, consisting of just 5,500 individuals (Murn et al. 2016). This equates to just 3,685 mature individuals here placed in the band 2,500-9,999 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The species is thought to be declining at an extremely rapid rate. Ogada et al. (2016) estimate a median decline of 6.7% per year (range: 2.8-8.8%), equating to a decline of 88% (range: 59-94%) over three generations (31.26 years [Bird et al. 2020]). Road surveys in Botswana support these rates of decline, with a decline of 78% recorded between 1991-1995 and 2015-2016, equating to a decline of 87.5% over three generations. The species has shown severe declines throughout its West African range (F. Dowsett-Lemaire in litt. 2006, J.M. Thiollay in litt. 2006) and also across southern Africa (Ferguson-Lees et al. 2001). As many significant threats are ongoing, similar rates of decline are suspected to continue into the future.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Angola	extant	native			yes
Benin	extant	native	yes
Botswana	extant	native	yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native	yes
Burundi	extant	native	yes
Cameroon	extant	native	yes		yes
Central African Republic	extant	native	yes		yes
Chad	extant	native	yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native	yes
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native	yes
Djibouti	extant	native	yes
Eritrea	extant	native	yes
Eswatini	presence uncertain	native	yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Gabon	extant	vagrant			yes
Gambia	extant	native	yes
Ghana	extant	native	yes
Guinea	extant	native	yes
Guinea-Bissau	extant	native	yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Malawi	extant	native	yes
Mali	extant	native	yes
Mauritania	extant	native	yes
Mozambique	extant	native	yes
Namibia	extant	native	yes
Niger	extant	native	yes
Nigeria	presence uncertain	native	yes
Rwanda	extant	native	yes
Senegal	extant	native	yes
Somalia	extant	native	yes		yes
South Africa	extant	native	yes
South Sudan	extant	native	yes
Sudan	extant	native	yes
Tanzania	extant	native	yes
Togo	extant	native	yes
Uganda	extant	native	yes
Zambia	extant	native	yes		yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Kenya	Kirisia Forest
Kenya	Ol Ari Nyiro

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 4000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Persecution/control	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Unintentional effects (species is not the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Species mortality, Other
Human intrusions & disturbance	Work & other activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success
Other options	Other threat	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Utility & service lines	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Medicine - human & veterinary	national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: White-headed Vulture Trigonoceps occipitalis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/white-headed-vulture-trigonoceps-occipitalis on 26/12/2024.
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 26/12/2024.