Elvira G. Nikolenko

The range and abundance of Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) in Russia and Kazakhstan are systematically declining. It is no exaggeration to say that the Saker Falcon is by far the most endangered raptor species in the Palaearctic. A compilation of literature data shows the species’ estimated abundance in 1970s Russia was at least 9,000–10,000 pairs (Galushin, 2004; Karyakin, 2008), while it appears over 15,000 pairs nested in Kazakhstan – in the 1990s their abundance there was estimated at 5,218 (4,808–5,628) pairs. In 2003, total abundance in Russia (without Crimea) was estimated at 2,520 (2,115–2,925), and in 2004 there were 2,108–2,915 nesting sites (Karyakin et al., 2005). By 2010, Saker Falcon abundance in Crimea was estimated at 163–181 pairs (Milobog et al., 2010). Between 2004 and 2018, the species completely stopped nesting in the near Volga River area region in the Southern Urals and largely disappeared in Western Siberia lowlands. By 2014, Saker Falcon abundance was estimated to be 1,869 (1,628–2,197) pairs in Russia, and by 2018 1,530–1,925 pairs, of which 1,103–1,216 pairs nested in the Altai-Sayan region (ASR), 185–230 pairs in the Baikal region, 72–264 pairs in Dauria, and 145–184 pairs in the Republic of Crimea (Karyakin et al., 2006; 2011; 2018; Karyakin, Nikolenko, 2015). The most prosperous Russian population of Saker Falcon is in the ASR, where regular monitoring of the species occurs. Their abundance has decreased by 43% over 20 years (Karyakin et al., 2018). If at the end of the 1990s 2,056 (1,962–2,150) pairs were thought to nest in the ASR, by 2019 there were just 1,130 (1,076–1,179) pairs. However, compared to other territories, the species’ situation in the ASR can viewed favorably. On the Crimean Peninsula, the Saker Falcon’s decline in abundance is calculated to range by 4.1 to 17.7% over 5 years by 2015 (Milobog et al., 2010; Karyakin, Nikolenko, 2015). Some small nesting groups of Saker Falcon remain in the Baikal region, where local researchers assess the situation as consistently bad. After equipping 150 km of bird-hazardous power lines with protective devices in Daursky Nature Reserve’s enforcement zone in Transbaikalia, by 2017 species abundance had tripled over the 2010 total (Goroshko, 2018), although in this case we are only talking about a few pairs. In recent years, overwintering Saker Falcons have been regularly encountered in Primorye (O. Katugin, pers. com.), and there is a chance that a breeding group remains in Manchuria on the border with China, but there is no data to support this. Considering the negative dynamics of its large population groups, current Saker Falcon abundance in Russia is estimated at 1,356–1,618 pairs (Karyakin et al., 2020). As of 2010, abundance in Kazakhstan was estimated at 2,030 pairs (1,882–2,179), while as of 2012, no more than 1,500 pairs are estimated. Over a 20-year period, their abundance in Kazakhstan fell by over 60% (Karyakin et al., 2015). In 2011–2023, the authors and other researchers regularly visited groups of the species across Kazakhstan, conducting either systematic monitoring of known nesting sites or onetime observations. The report summarizes all available data. In 2022–2023, within the framework of a Biodiversity Research & Conservation Center project supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund and WWF, areas in Southern and Southeastern Kazakhstan where stable groups known to be present as recently as 2010 were carefully studied. In 2022 in the Karatau Mountains and adjacent areas Saker Falcon abundance is estimated at 46 (28–66) breeding pairs; this comprises a 77% decline from 2010 levels (Karyakin et al., 2022). In 2023, monitoring of nesting areas in the Tarbagatai Mountains, Dzhungaria, Chu- Ili Mountains, and the Balkhash region showed isolated incidents of Saker Falcon nesting in areas remote from highways and where the Saker Falcon’s main food resource consisted of small colonial birds (Rooks Corvus frugilegus, Jackdaws Corvus monedula, Rosy Starlings Sturnus roseus). Over the last five years, there has been a complete disappearance of rodents in the Syugaty and Boguty Mountains and the Saker Falcon did not breed (A. Kovalenko, P. Pfander, pers. com.). The authors visited south central Kazakhstan in July 2017 and July 2018; not a single sighting of the species occurred on two monthlong expeditions in the Karaganda region. On Western Kazakhstan’s Ustyurt Plateau, where one of the largest populations of the species remained until 2010 (Pfeffer, Karyakin, 2010), episodic monitoring has been carried out over the past ten years, documenting the disappearance of falcons in the majority of regularly monitored nesting areas (M. Pestov, A. Pazhenkov, I. Smelyansky, pers. com.). Beginning in 2001 in the Naurzumsky State Nature Reserve, a noticeable negative trend emerged in the abundance of a Saker Falcon breeding group: in 2001–2004 abundance ranged from 17 to 20 pairs, 15 pairs were documented in 2005, and 14 pairs in 2006–2008 (Bragin, Bragin, 2009), but no monitoring has taken place there in recent years. Saker Falcons were not studied on Kokchetavskaya Upland or in Irtysh forests in Pavlodar and Semipalatinsk Regions. However, given the reduction in the area of forest plantations as a result of fires and logging, a significant reduction in species abundance can be expected along the lines of similar declines in Altai Kray (Russian Federation), where the Saker Falcon has almost completely disappeared. It should also be noted that, despite this, illegal poachers continue to trap migrant individuals along the forests and foothills of Altai (Hunting Supervision Department data, Altai Kray, Russian Federation), and their activity in the area renders any restoration of the Saker Falcon nesting group in this territory unlikely. Most...

Степной орел (Aquila nipalensis) – птица, без которой невозможно представить Казахстан. Согласно последней оценке численности 2018 г. в стране гнездилось 20950–31570 пар (68,5–82,2% мировой популяции). Численность казахстанской популяции устойчиво снижается, начиная, как минимум, с 1990–х гг. (Карякин, 2018). В настоящий период неблагоприятный тренд наблюдается по всему казахстанскому ареалу степного орла, но отсутствие регулярного и географически репрезентативного мониторинга не позволяет корректно оценить темпы сокращения. Степные орлы на гнездовании в Казахстане неравномерно распределены по трём гнездовым группировкам: западной, центральной и восточной.

For centuries, Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis) had been the most numerous Palearctic Aquila species, but nowadays it has been decreasing in numbers progressively, so in 2015 the IUCN changed the species status to “endangered”. The decrease is evidently related to Steppe Eagles’ electrocution at nesting areas and during migration, poisoning by veterinarian drugs when feeding on agricultural animal carcasses at wintering grounds, steppe fires and total habitat loss combined with loss of prey like susliks. To the contrary, the sister Aquila species, the Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), which exhibits similar biological traits and lives simpatrically to the Steppe Eagle at some parts of areas, shows local increase in numbers and even substitutes the decreasing Steppe Eagle in steppe biomes. In the 1960s, many Palearctic birds of prey came through population decline due to so-called “DDT crisis” – massive pesticide poisoning. To restore the species numbers, specific conservation actions were initiated in Europe to support population numbers and genetic diversity of raptors. Regarding the Steppe Eagle with its nesting area located mostly at Kazakhstan, Russian, Mongolian and Chinese territories, the implications of DDT and electrocution impacts on the population numbers stayed poorly investigated. Meanwhile, loss of genetic stability can be a reason for lasting population decline. Genetic threats like population fragmentation, genetic erosion, and inbreeding depression are believed more prolonged in comparison to anthropogenic impacts and more rarely come under increasing scrutiny of conservation practitioners. However, if exist, they can lead to species extinction regardless of removal of all other threats. The Steppe Eagle population structure stays poorly investigated. In 2018, during the 1st Steppe Eagle conservation international workshop, this problem was highlighted with recommendations for filling this gap. Our presented study was conducted following this recommendation and focused on genetic structure, fragmentation, and effective number comparison of the Steppe Eagle population at the individual samples) and sympatric populations of the Imperial Eagle (over 100 samples). For conservation criteria estimation, we used widespread genetic markers like nuclear microsatellites (9 loci) and mitochondrial control region (D-loop). Also we performed molecular individual tagging and parentage analysis to study the population structure using samples from the numerous Western Kazakhstan population. We also used GIS methods to study geographic fragmentation of populations. The genetic analysis showed that the Steppe Eagle population structure is highly similar to that of the Imperial Eagle but with less genetic diversity and has traces of repeated survival of “population bottlenecks” with huge decline in the number and genetic diversity. Fragmentation analysis showed no genetic isolation of geographically fragmented nesting groups despite the presumed natal phylopatry in accordance with our Steppe Eagle parentage data. Preliminary estimation of the Steppe Eagle population effective numbers by linkage disequilibrium method showed rather high values inspite of the lasting population decline. The molecular coancestry estimation showed more serious decline during the latest bottleneck which was also far below the ancestral Imperial Eagle population at the studied areas. The inbreeding rate for the Steppe Eagle population at the most part of the species areas turned out to outnumber one for the local population of the Imperial Eagle. Our data showed no immediate genetic threats for the Steppe Eagle population restoration and also demonstrated traces of multiple bottlenecks in the species evolution. Still the genetic structure of the species population keeps some traits of modern decline and should be monitored permanently according to the species numbers. Unique population structure patterns of the Steppe Eagle between other Aquilinae species and their conservation aspects are directions for future Aquila nipalensis genetic research.