Southern Chamois Rupicapra Pyrenaica Research Articles

Dietary habits in the endangered Bearded VultureGypaetus barbatusfrom Upper Pleistocene to modern times in Spain: a paleobiological conservation perspective

SummaryAlthough most Old World vulture species are declining or threatened in Asia and Africa, in Europe healthy vulture populations still exist. However, recent application of sanitary legislation that has greatly reduced the availability of animal carcasses is now a concern for conservationists. Until now, no studies have been undertaken to determine long-term dietary shifts in these species in Europe, but such studies are essential to optimising the resources invested in conservation and to anticipating the ecological needs of the target species. Here, we present a first attempt to examine the dietary variation in the Bearded VultureGypaetus barbatusfrom the late Pleistocene to the present day. Medium-size wild ungulates such as southern chamoisRupicapra pyrenaica, Spanish ibexCapra pyrenaica,red deerCervus elaphusand roe deerCapreolus capreolusdominate the diet during the Pleistocene supporting the hypothesis that Bearded Vulture distribution was largely determined by the presence of such species. On the contrary, domestic species, such as sheepOvis ariesand goatCapra hircus,are the most common taxa in the diet in modern and historic periods. The actual dependence of the species on livestock, along with a restrictive sanitary legislation, threaten the conservation of this and other endangered avian scavengers in Europe. This new paleobiological conservation perspective confirms that efforts to establish a self-sustaining Bearded Vulture population should be enhanced by the widespread availability of medium-sized wild ungulates and by the presence of extensive and traditional grazing practices.