Landfills determine the distribution of an expanding breeding population of the endangered Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus

Abstract

Human activities provide food resources for animals that are predictable in space and/or time. These resources, sometimes referred to as predictable anthropogenic food subsidies (PAFS), can be either the result of human‐generated waste or provided intentionally, sometimes as a conservation measure. Some PAFS, including landfills, are used by common species. However, little information exists about the effects that these feeding points have on rarer species that feed there, some of which are of conservation concern. This study focuses on the influence of PAFS and their spatial location on the distribution of territories of the endangered Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus. We analysed a population in the NE Iberian Peninsula that has in recent decades expanded its range. We used both null model and linear model analyses to ascertain the effect of PAFS and other covariates on the occupancy of territories by the study species. PAFS appeared to play an important role in territory selection by Egyptian Vultures, as occupied territories were nearer landfills than expected by chance. Furthermore, the distance from PAFS (landfills and vulture feeding stations, or ‘restaurants’) played an important role in the probability of territory occupancy by Egyptian Vultures, in addition to other environmental variables such as surface areas of rocky south‐facing slopes, human settlement and the proximity of conspecifics. However, recent EU legislation aims to phase out open‐air landfills to reduce the negative environmental effects of these facilities. This could have an undesired impact on the endangered species that use these feeding points. We recommend management measures that can control abundant pest species but, in the long term, other measures as supplementary feeding should be considered to counteract the probable negative effect of the disappearance of landfills on endangered species.