Status and density of the threatened Kori Bustard Ardeotis kori in a woodland savanna

Abstract

Many grassland habitats have disappeared or undergone substantial change worldwide and many obligatory grassland animal species have populations that are at risk of extinction. The Kori Bustard Ardeotis kori is the largest flying bird native to Africa and an open savanna specialist, but no research on the population ecology of the Kori Bustard in Namibia has been published in the last 30 years. Using distance sampling from driven transects, we estimated 0.34 ± 0.1 birds km−2 in the 2021–2022 calendar year, which projects a population of <200 (∼196) Kori Bustards for the 576 km2 study area. We found no significant variation in density estimates among seasons from 2016 to 2021. A nationwide status survey and investigation of potential limiting factors, including analysis of survival rates and connectivity between populations, will be important undertakings to better inform conservation strategies for this imperilled species in Namibia and in other range countries with data deficiency.