A research by the National Museum of Natural Sciences, belonging to the Higher Council for Scientific Research, shows that the high presence of tourists and vehicles in areas inhabited by the Canary Islands houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata fuerteventura) increases its mortality.
The Canary Islands houbara bustard is an endemic bird of the eastern islands of the archipelago that is in danger of extinction.
The conclusions of this work, published in the journal Biological Conservation, are the result of the analysis of data obtained through location devices installed in 51 specimens of this species between 2018 and 2022, including the period of confinement due to covid-19, reports the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) in a statement.
Houbara bustards usually move around on foot and only take flight if they feel threatened.
These flights can cause fatal collisions with power lines and vehicles, the two main causes of human-caused mortality in this species, as revealed by a study published in January of this year.
GSM-GPRS technology allows for very precise data on the position and activity of birds, which is why researchers used high-resolution telemetry to examine whether the places of origin of the flights were near roads or paths.
“During the temporary closure to tourism imposed by the pandemic in 2020, we observed that the houbara bustards reduced the frequency of their flights by 76%. During that period, there were also many fewer vehicles circulating on the island, which explains why we recorded fewer deaths of these birds due to collisions with electrical and telephone lines and fewer run over on the road,” explains Inmaculada Abril-Colón, a researcher at the MNCN.
The study points out that, although human disturbances can be caused by both tourists and locals, the influence of the local population (156,112 inhabitants in Lanzarote and 120,021 in Fuerteventura) is relatively small compared to that of tourists (respectively, 2,816,231 and 2,057,495 in 2022, according to data from the Government of the Canary Islands).
And it shows that during the confinement due to covid-19, although agricultural or livestock work was not restricted, the impact associated with high tourist activity was not recorded.
During the investigation, of the 51 houbara bustards studied, six deaths related to anthropogenic causes were recorded: 2 due to collision with overhead lines during non-migratory local flights and four run over.
The results indicate that, of these, five occurred during the years before and after covid-19, while only one occurred at the end of the partial confinement, in May 2021.
“The study clearly shows that mass tourism can have negative consequences on wildlife, and causes annoyance and even deaths of threatened species, such as the Canary Islands houbara bustard,” says MNCN-CSIC researcher Juan Carlos Alonso, director of the Houbara Project and co-author of the study.
To avoid the effects of tourism on this species, scientists recommend establishing restricted areas for outdoor recreational activities carried out on roads and tracks and restricting access to certain areas, especially those with a high density of houbara bustards and other threatened birds.
