Abstract
ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 29:69-79 (2015) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00700 Conservation implications of harpy eagle Harpia harpyja predation patterns Everton B. P. Miranda* Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso, Av. Fernando Corrêa da Costa, no. 2367 - Bairro Boa Esperança, Cuiabá - MT, CEP 78060-900, Brazil *Corresponding author: mirandaebp@gmail.com ABSTRACT: Knowledge of the food habits of threatened taxa is key for their effective conservation, especially in top predators where prey species are frequently also hunted by humans. The harpy eagle Harpia harpyja is the largest living eagle, and is considered Near Threatened by the IUCN. Its main threats are persecution by humans and habitat loss. Predation patterns of this species have been the subject of several descriptive studies, each reflecting the idiosyncrasies of the study area. Systematizing these data permits a transition from descriptive treatments of harpy food habits to a predictive focus, based on defensive prey strategies and foraging theory. This generates information that can enhance management and conservation decisions. Literature data were summarized and standardized, allowing comparison between studies. Results indicate that harpy eagles feed mainly on sloths and other prey with passive antipredator strategies, with sloths accounting for 50% of prey items and biomass consumed. Large monkeys such as howlers (Alouatta spp.) and capuchins (Sapajus and Cebus spp.) are the next most important prey, but combined, primates form only ~20% of the consumed prey biomass. Predation seldom occurs on animals weighing more than 5 kg. This is positive from a conservation point of view, since sloths are not game species, precluding competition between harpy eagles and subsistence hunting. KEY WORDS: Raptor · Bradypus · Choloepus · Alouatta · Prey defenses · Top predator · Diet Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Miranda EBP (2015) Conservation implications of harpy eagle Harpia harpyja predation patterns. Endang Species Res 29:69-79. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00700 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 29, No. 1. Online publication date: November 25, 2015 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2015 Inter-Research.
Highlights
Knowledge of the food habits of threatened taxa is essential for their effective conservation (Harper et al 2006, Real et al 2009)
A data search was made with Google Scholar using Harpia harpyja and the following keywords: harpy eagle, arpía, gavião-real, harpia combined with diet, food habits, habitos alimentarios, and dieta
Two- and three-toed sloths constituted some 53% of prey items and 50% of biomass consumed by harpy eagles, and were energetically the most important prey category
Summary
Knowledge of the food habits of threatened taxa is essential for their effective conservation (Harper et al 2006, Real et al 2009). The largest-ever raptor, the Haast eagle Harpagornis moorei, weighed up to 17 kg, preyed on giant moa and disappeared shortly after Maori colonization of New Zealand around 1400, probably due to prey loss, direct persecution, or both (Holdaway 1991, Scofield & Ashwell 2009). This kind of extinction event has occurred repeatedly on islands, and has affected both terrestrial and flying giant raptors, such as Ornimegalonyx oteroi in Cuba (Arredondo 1976) and Stephanoaetus mahery in Madagascar (Goodman 1994). The Philippine eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi (4.4−6 kg; Gamauf et al 1998), the second largest raptor on earth, is categorized as Critically Endangered by the IUCN; no Publisher: Inter-Research · www.int-res.com
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