African Fish Eagle (Lake Naivasha)
in Africa Program: East Africa Project:Status: Active, started in 1994
Goals:
Measure the health of Lake Naivasha in Kenya’s Rift Valley System using the African Fish Eagle as a biosentinel.
Background:
Complete project title: Population, breeding and mortality studies of the African Fish Eagle, Haliaeetus vocifer, at Lake Naivasha, Kenya.
The African Fish Eagle Haliaeetus vocifer is recognized as the quintessential flagship of African inland waters, lakes, rivers and dams. Studies on this charismatic species have been carried out on the African Fish Eagle at both these lakes for the past 40 years, by a variety of different organizations and individuals. With such observations and records, we can derive long-term population trends. These records date back to when these environments were relatively pristine and so these predators can act as reliable indicator species of the changes that have occurred within these ecosystems since these records began.
Recent Results:
For the last 2 years, populations of Fish Eagles at Naivasha have remained fairly constant at between 105 to 120 individuals, including juveniles and transient adults. Breeding suffered during a long countrywide drought in 2009, but quickly recovered to approximately 2/3rds of territorial pairs attempting to breed in 2010 as water levels rose to pre-2009 levels.
More recently, we have expanded our work to include Lake Baringo about 100 km north of Naivasha where populations of African Fish Eagles have plummeted from 38 in 2002 to 20 in 2010. The main factor influencing this loss has been secondary poisoning; up to 13 birds have been confirmed as poisoned, and five more are suspected to have been killed in an unconfirmed incident. Breeding rates at Baringo in 2010 have been very low, with only one pair attempting, and succeeding to raise young.
Challenges:
Project Links:
| Project History | (no field notes) |
| Publications and Data | (no misc. information) |
| Photos and Videos |
Location Note:
Lake Naivasha: 80 km North-west of Nairobi, 1890 meters above sea level, 120 square kilometers.
Species involved
- African Fish Eagle — Haliaeetus vocifer
People involved in this project:
Student Opportunities:
Each year, Masters students have had the opportunity to complete research theses on either of these lakes, contributing to the bank of data already recorded. Thecla Mutia has currently submitted her MSc thesis at Egerton University (Kenya) on “An assessment of heavy metal contamination at Lake Naivasha” while Masumi Gudka (MSc University of Cape Town) is currently writing up her field results on “An assessment of pesticide contamination at Lake Naivasha”.
Cooperating Partners:
- Boise State University
- Elsamere Conservation Center
- National Museums of Kenya
- Nature Kenya
- St. Lawrence University
- University of Leicester U.K.
Combined Federal Campaign # 10639
