STRATEGY OF RAPTOR CONSERVATION IN THE USSR by Vladimir E. Flint USSRMinistry of Agriculture CentralLaboratory for Nature Conservation Znamenskoye-Sadki 142790, P.O. Vilar Moscow, USSR and Vladimir M. Galushin MoscowState Pedagogical Institution MCPI, ZoologyDepartment Kibalchicha Street. 6 Moscow 1-243, USSR Nearlythree decades have passed since the first volumeof the fundamentalhandbook Birdsof the SovietUnion (Dement'ev and Gladkov 1951) was published. Environmental changessince then have causedsome changesin raptor populationsand breeding ranges.The mostimportant environmental factors affecting raptor populationsare (1) modificationsof habitatsdue to useand developmentof large tractsof land mostlyin the northand eastUSSR; (2) growinginfluence of disturbance,in particulardue to rec- reation,tourism, and other visitorsto nature; (3) contaminationby pesticides,mostly at winteringgrounds (little influenceby pesticideshas been foundfor birds of prey on nestinggrounds in the USSR);(4) electrocutionof raptors(especially eagles) at towers for electro-transmissionlines which form an expandingnet and attract birds in the for- estlesssouthern regions; (5) changesin food resourcesfor sornespecies; (6) increase(up to the mid-sixties)and then definitedecrease of huntingpressure upon birds of prey; (7) generalimprovement of natureconservation in the SovietUnion. However, not all environmentalchanges caused by man are detrimental to popu- lationsof all raptors.Many modificationssuch as agriculture,hay-making, and clear- cuttingin denseforests create a mosaicenvironment more suitable(especially for feed- ing) than is a homogeneoushabitat. Therefore a strategyof raptor conservationmust be basedon thoroughanalysis of a wide rangeof recentenvironmental and man-madefac- torswhich influence populations of birdsof prey. To identifythe mostdangerous factors anddevise plans to mitigatethem, various economic and conservationaspects have been studiedregarding various species of birds of prey. It shouldbe stressedthat an estima- tion of an economicvalue is strictlyconfined to numerousor commonraptors. Rare and endangeredspecies are not liable to economicevaluation because of their limited numbers. Specialinvestigations revealed the main causeof raptor populationdecreases in the 1950sand 1960swas excessive shooting of birdsof prey duringthe "struggleagainst ver- min predators"as part of gamemanagement. By comparingraptor significance to agri- culture,forestry, and gamemanagement, reliable arguments in favor of raptorswere ob- tained(e.g., Galushin 1970). On the basisof thesedata, in 1964a new huntingregulation wasapproved in the RussianFederation and later in otherUnion Republics. This legisla- tion bannedmass destruction of raptors.By this act, the legislativestatus of raptorsin i RaptorResearch 15(1):1-3 2 RAPTOR RESEARCH Vol. 15, No. 1 the USSRwas brought to conformwith the real economicand ecologicalvalue of the birds.In followingyears this legislation was further improved. In particular,new regu- lationsadopted in the 1970scontained some provisions for penalties(e.g., in Byelorussia a fine for destructionof a GoldenEagle (Aquila chrysaetos)or White-tailedSea Eagle (Haliaeetusalbicilla) is ratherhigh; up to 300 roubles,approximately $450), as well as specialmeasures for protection.At presentall speciesof falconiformsand strigiforms are grantedprotection in the SovietUnion. One of the mostimportant ways for conservingwildlife is creationof naturereserves whicheffectively protect raptor habitats. As of September1979 therewere 133 nature reserves(100,000 km '2) in all landscapezones of the SovietUnion. Of thesemore than 30 reserveswere setup duringthe lastten years,with plansfor the establishmentof about 25 morein the nextdecade. At the sametime nationalparks, nature parks, and tempo- rary or seasonalreserves have been set up to provideadditional habitat for wildlifepro- tection.Nests of rare raptorsare alsoprotected. Within the reservesand in somelocal areas,ornithologists, ecologists, students, teachers, school children, bird watchers,mem- bersof localsocieties for natureconservation, and officersof forestand gamemanage- mentservices are involvedin locationand protectionof nests.In somedistricts (Vitebsk, Moscow,and others) rather effective campaigns are organizedannually for locatingand protectingnests of rare species. Examplesof local measuresto improveraptor habitatsinclude feeding of wintering eaglesand nestingvultures, setting up artificial nestingplatforms and boxes,and at- tempting to develop methodsto prevent the death of large raptors at electro- transmissiontowers. These efforts are the result of activity by a few local enthusiasts; thus,their effectis limited and not well known.Our immediatetask is to widely pub- licize suchefforts and to introduceeffective measures for improvingraptor habitats on a nationalscale. There are few attemptsto analyzeand control contamination of birds(in- cludingraptors) and their habitats by pesticides. At presenttwo proiectsfor captivebreeding of birdsof prey are beingdeveloped. One of themis locatedin Kirgizia;another will be establishednear Oka StateReserve in the Ryazandistrict of Russia.Within the frameworkof the USSR-USAAgreement on Cooperationin the Field of EnvironmentalProtection, there is roomfor fruitfulcooper- ationand further progress on methodsof captivebreeding. Ornithologistsand ecologistsare doingtheir bestto publicizeinformation about the ecologyof birdsof prey, to createsupport for their protection,to preventoccasional killing of raptorsand destructionof nests,and to reducefactors of disturbance,espe- cially on nestinggrounds. Mass media is usedextensively for this purpose(e.g., maga- zines,newspapers, radio, TV, films). An especiallyimportant source for identificationof rare and endangeredplants and animalsis the Red Data Bookof the USSR(Boradin 1978). Included in thisbook are 14 speciesof falconiforms:the Lammergeier(Gypaetus barbatus), Gyrfalcon (Falco rustic- olus),and Barbary Falcon (Falco pelegrinoides) are designatedendangered species; Stel- ler'sSea Eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus), White-tailed Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), Pal- las' SeaEagle (H. leucoryphus),Himalayan Griffon (Gypshimalayensis), Golden Eagle (Aquilachrysaetos), Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), Tawny Eagle (A. rapax),Short-toed Eagle (Circaetusgallicus), Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Peregrine Falcon (Falcoper- egrinus),and the SakerFalcon (F. cherrug)are designated as rare species. Similar region- al Red Data Bookshave been published(Kazakhstan, Moldavia) or are underprepara- tion in the UnionRepublics. Spring1981 Flint andGalushin--Conservation 3 Effectivenessof raptor conservationproved to be different for variousecological groupsof raptors.Repeated surveys on the sameareas over 10, 15, or 20 yearsof study, as well as a summaryof many studiesin variousregions of the USSR,show trends of stabilizationfor the Buzzard(Buteo buteo), Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus), Hen Har- rier (Circuscyaneus), Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and Hobby (Falcosubbuteo). To someextent local increasesof somecommon species are reported:Black Kite (Milvus migrans),Upland Buzzard (Buteo hemilasius), Montagu's (Circus pygargus), Pallid (C. macrourus),Pied (C. melanoleucus),and Marsh (C. aeruginosus)Harriers, European Kes- trel (Falcotinnunculus), Merlin (F. columbarius),and Red-lootedFalcon (F. vesper- tinus).Relaxation of pressurefrom direct persecutionby man hasproven favorable to populationsof specieslisted above and perhaps to someother species. There is reasonto believetheir populationswill continueincreasing until reachinga stablelevel at which the ecologicalcapacity of the habitatis attained. Legislativeprotection is not as effectivefor many other falconiforms.Among these, practicallyall are largeand rare birds of prey: PeregrineFalcon, Golden Eagle, Tawny Eagle,White-tailed Sea Eagle, Pallas' Sea Eagle, Lammergeier, vultures, griffons, Short- toedEagle, and Osprey.This groupis still undernegative pressure from manyfactors. Mostimportant among them are probablyhabitat changes, disturbance by people(tour- istsin particular),occasional shooting, nest destruction, pesticides encountered mostly at winteringplaces, and shortages of food. To summarize,a strategyof raptorconservation began with the achievementof fun- damentalchanges and further improvements in the legislativestatus of raptors.It pro- vedto be effectivefor stabilizingor increasingabout half the falconiformspecies in the USSR.Populations of thesespecies make up about80-90 percentof the total numberof falconiformsin the country.This situation encourages scientific and conservation organ- izations(like the Institutefor Conservationof Wildlife and manyothers) to concentrate their effortsfor conservationand managementon rare speciesof birdsof prey in our country. Acknowledgments We wishto thankF. P. Ward and M. R. Fuller, colleaguesin the USSR-USAAgree- ment on Cooperationin the Field of EnvironmentalProtection, for reviewing this manuscript. Literature Cited Boradin,A.M. (Chairmanof the Editorial Board).1978. Red Data Bookof the USSR. USSRMinistry of AgricultureMain Administrationfor Nature Conservation,Na- ture Reserves,Forestry, and Game Management.Central ResearchLaboratory on Nature Conservation.Lesnaya Promyshlennost Publishers, Moscow. 460 pp. (In Russian). Dement'ev,G. P., andN. A. Gladkov(eds.). 1951. Ptitsy Sovetskogo Soyuza (Birds of the SovietUnion, vol. 1). GosudarstvennoeIzdatel'stvo., "Sovetskaya Nauka," Mos- cow. (EnglishTranslation for the SmithsonianInstitution and National Science Foundation,USA, by Israel Programfor ScientificTranslations, Ltd., S. Monson publ.,Jerusalem, 1966. 704 pp.) Galushin,V. M. 1970.Ecological and economic effects of birdsof prey in the centralre- gion of the Europeanpart of the USSR-with specialreference to the 'Index of predatorypressure' as a meansof estimatingthis effect. IUCN, 11th Technical Meeting,Morges, Switzerland, pp. 166-174. 4 RAPTOR RESEARCH Vol. 15, No. i .