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White-backed Vulture Nest Encounters More Than Halved in Western Serengeti Surveys

White-backed Vulture standing on short grass in the Serengeti
Conservation · Population & status

Long-term surveys in the western Serengeti recorded a marked decline in nest encounters of white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus), alongside low measured breeding success and a substantial loss of riparian tree cover.

Researchers analysed five aerial surveys carried out between 2013 and 2021 along rivers in Ikorongo and Grumeti Game Reserves and the adjoining Ikona Wildlife Management Area in northern Tanzania. They also conducted ground-based nest surveys in 2021 and 2022 to assess breeding success and nesting habitat, and used satellite data to examine changes in tree cover between 2012 and 2020.

The rate at which vulture nests were encountered during the aerial surveys fell from 0.99 nests per kilometre in 2013 to 0.43 nests per kilometre in 2021. The study therefore documents a substantial decline in the nest encounter rate along the surveyed riparian corridors over the eight-year period.

Measured breeding success was 29.4%

Breeding success measured during the nest surveys was 29.4%. The authors report that this was significantly lower than values reported from other study sites, adding concern about the condition of the breeding population in the western Serengeti.

Nests were concentrated in tall riparian trees

The ground surveys also showed a clear nesting pattern that is important for interpreting the habitat loss. Nests occurred along rivers in Ficus and Vachellia/Senegalia woodland, and 57% of the recorded nests were in sycamore fig (Ficus sycomorus). Among the measured tree characteristics, tree height showed the strongest association with use as a nesting tree.

Riparian tree cover fell by 28%

At the same time, riparian tree cover in the study area declined by 28% between 2012 and 2020. Trees along rivers are particularly important to white-backed vultures because the species nests in large trees within otherwise open savanna landscapes.

The researchers suggest that habitat loss may be one factor contributing to the observed decline in the breeding population, but they do not present it as the only demonstrated cause. They state that further work is needed to determine the drivers of tree-cover loss and to understand which factors are limiting breeding success.

The western corridor of the Greater Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem supports a significant population of this Critically Endangered species, while published information on its breeding population and breeding success in this part of the ecosystem has been limited.

The authors recommend continued monitoring of white-backed vulture breeding populations, investigation of the causes of riparian tree-cover decline and closer study of the factors influencing nesting and breeding success. These data would help distinguish habitat-related effects from the other pressures affecting African vultures, including poisoning.

Sources and image credit

  1. Laizer, V., Goodman, P. S., Mbise, N., Bracebridge, C., Tiedeman, K., Kendall, C. J., Byamungu, R., Hassan, S. N., & Snyder, K. D. (2026). Breeding population status and nesting preferences of the White-backed Vulture Gyps africanus in western Serengeti, northern Tanzania. Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology, 97(1), 19–29. https://doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2025.2603271

Image: Christoph Strässler / Wikimedia Commons — White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus) near Ndutu Lodge in the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania, photographed 18 February 2009. Representative species photograph from the same ecosystem, not a bird from the western-corridor nest surveys. · CC BY-SA 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ · Source

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