Alarming drop in numbers of endangered African owl

AT RISK: The Sokoke Scops owl, whose numbers are falling

The population declined 22.5 per cent over a 16-year period, said Munir Virani, the author of the study which was a joint venture between The Peregrine Fund, the National Museums of Kenya and icipe, an Africa-based insect research organisation.

Mr Virani, who is also director of the Pan Africa Programme for The Peregrine Fund, estimates that 800 pairs remain - down from the 1,002 pairs found in the early Nineties. He also observed much lower densities of owls per square kilometer than during previous studies.

Major concern for flagship species
‘This alarming trend is of major concern for an endangered species,' Virani said. ‘The Sokoke Scops Owl is considered a flagship species and a prime indicator of the health of the Arabuko-Sokokoke Forest.'

Illegal tree-cutting is destroying vital habitat for the cavity-nesting owls and continued degradation of the forest will adversely impact the ability of the owls to survive, he said. He recommends that more exploratory surveys be conducted to locate new populations of the owl and that intensive ecological studies be undertaken to understand the specie's habitat requirements.

Discovered in 1960, the Sokoke Scops Owl is found mainly in coastal Kenya in the western section of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, one of the most important forests for bird conservation in mainland Africa. The forest is just 420 square kilometers (162 square miles) in size, and only about half of this is a suitable for the owl.