South Africa’s national bird, the blue crane, has officially been uplisted from near threatened to vulnerable in the newly published Regional Red Data Book 2025.
The uplisting of the blue crane to vulnerable in South Africa means that it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium term, and this reflects growing concern about the species’ future, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) said on Monday.
The Karoo boasts the highest number of blue cranes in South Africa, and the species’ decline is of particular concern in the Overberg region of the Western Cape, where blue cranes occur at high densities, the EWT said.
Data from the long-running citizen science project, Coordinated Avifaunal Roadcounts (CAR), showed that the Overberg had seen a 44% decline in blue crane numbers between 2011 and 2025.
The organisation said these figures were especially concerning, given that this region once had a thriving blue crane population.
“Before the decline, CAR counts indicated that blue crane numbers had increased by 261% between 1994 and 2010. In the Karoo, CAR figures showed that populations had declined before 2017. But this data is dated given CAR counts are no longer done in this region.”
The reasons behind the dramatic decline in the Overberg over the past 14 years were unclear, but research has revealed some clues.
“Recent research by EWT conservation scientist, Dr Christie Craig, into the species’ long-term viability revealed that breeding success in the Overberg has halved since the last published study 30 years ago.”
On average, pairs now raised just 0.55 fledglings, far below what was needed to sustain the population.
MSc student Michelle Bouwer found that the key drivers of nest failures in the Overberg were disturbance and high temperatures.
“This is concerning, given that climate change models predict significant drying and warming in the Western Cape. Fence entanglement also remains a threat to chicks that can’t fly yet.”
The EWT said the birds had also become the secondary or unintended victims of poisoning in the Overberg and Swartland regions, often from substances intended for other species such as geese or rodents.
“This further highlights the importance of conservation presence in the landscape to ensure that illegal poisonings don’t go undetected, and to make certain that farmers have support to deal with crop damage problems.”
Research showing that power line collisions in the Overberg had decreased in the past 15 years might be attributed to concerted efforts through the EWT/Eskom partnership to mark power lines.
“Nonetheless, collision with power lines remains the main threat to blue cranes, and ongoing mitigation is necessary, especially as new power lines are added to connect renewable energy to the grid. This is particularly a threat in the renewable energy development zones of the Overberg and Karoo.”
TimesLIVE
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