The blue crane, South Africa’s national bird, is now at greater risk of extinction, as a new regional assessment lists the species as “vulnerable.”
“A Near-Threatened listing is no longer appropriate, now that the population is declining,” states the recently published Red Data Book of Birds, which follows the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List framework and relies on data from the Coordinated Avifaunal Roadcounts (CAR).
The CAR, which tracks long-term datasets for terrestrial birds in South Africa, found a sharp decline in blue cranes (Grus paradisea) in the Overberg region of South Africa’s Western Cape.
This is “especially concerning given that this region once had a thriving Blue Crane population,” said the Overberg Crane Group, Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and International Crane Foundation in a joint press release.
Conservation efforts in the 1990s led to a 261% population increase in Overberg between 1994 and 2010 and a 57% increase nationally between 2000 and 2010 . However, between 2011 and 2025, the population declined by 44% in Overberg, according to CAR data. The population is also declining in the semi-desert region of Karoo, home to the majority of blue cranes in the country.
“The reasons behind the dramatic decline in the Overberg over the past 14 years are unclear, but research has revealed some clues,” the groups said. EWT conservation scientist Christie Craig’s research found that in Overberg, the blue cranes’ breeding success declined by half in the past three decades. Currently, not enough fledglings are surviving to sustain the population, she said. Past studies cite predation, infertile eggs, nest disturbance and destruction by machinery as causes of nest failure.
Craig told Mongabay by e-mail that “in areas where we have taken our foot off the gas because the populations were doing well/stable (Karoo and Western Cape), numbers have declined.”
Blue cranes face habitat loss as grasslands, their natural habitat, are transformed into plantations so they are now drawn to areas not ideal for them, including farmlands where they can become the unintended victims of poison meant for crop-damaging geese and rodents, Craig said. The cranes also face threats from power lines, machinery and agrochemicals.
“The only reason why the species ‘recovered’ was because of conservation actions,” Kevin Shaw, ornithologist and chair of Overberg Crane Group, told Mongabay by e-mail. “The threats are still there, and there may be even different ones,” he said, referring to Craig’s research.
Shaw said they are unable to see the full situation because conservation budget cuts have resulted in fewer people monitoring crane populations. He added that most blue cranes live on agricultural land, which are not protected areas nor national conservation priorities.
Craig said Overberg is an important area for this species as well as others facing similar threats, including the endangered secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius), martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) and black harrier (Circus Maurus).
Banner image of blue cranes by Bernard Dupont via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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