Presented during the 17h Annual Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group Meeting organized by the NGO Sahara Conservation Fund in Senegal, from 4 to 6 May 2017. The Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) gathers every year about a hundred people who are interested in the field of Sahelo-Saharan species conservation.

1. 17th Annual Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group Meeting
2 days of talks on biodiversity conservation in the Sahara and in the Sahel
Monitoring of Arabian bustard in Niger
Yves HINGRAT, Research Manager – Reneco for Wildlife Preservation
Thomas RABEIL, Regional Developement Officer – Sahara Conservation Fund
May 4 – 6, 2017

2. Monitoring of Arabian bustard in Niger
Yves Hingrat and Thomas Rabeil

3. Why studying the Arabian bustard ?
Better knowledge for better conservation

4. Why studying the Arabian bustard ?
• 26 species of bustards
• Sahelo-Saharan bustards are among least studied
Nubian bustardArabian bustard
Denham bustard
North African Houbara bustard

5. Why studying the Arabian bustard ?
• 26 species of bustards
• Sahelo-Saharan bustards are among least studied
Four subspecies recognized
§ a. lynesi (Bannerman, 1930) – W Morocco (probably extinct).
§ a. stieberi (Neumann, 1907) – SW Mauritania and Senegambia E to NE
Sudan, W Eritrea and extreme NW Ethiopia.
§ a. butleri (Bannerman, 1930) – South Sudan; two records in NW Kenya.
§ a. arabs (Linnaeus, 1758) – N & E Eritrea, NE Ethiopia, Djibouti and extreme
NW Somalia; SW Saudi Arabia and W Yemen.
No taxonomy based on genetic yet

6. Species Status:
• Endangered species: Near threatened / CITES II
• Globally declining
• Range restriction and local extinction
Why studying the Arabian bustard ?
Collar, N., Kirwan, G.M. & Garcia, E.F.J. (2017). Arabian
Bustard (Ardeotis arabs). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal,
J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds
of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from
http://www.hbw.com/node/53713 on 2 May 2017).
Criteria: A2cd+3cd

7. Causes of decline:
• Over hunted and smuggled
• Habitat modification
• Human disturbance
• Arid climate…under climate change
Why studying the Arabian bustard ?
Paddle trap Yemen

8. In Arabian Peninsula
• IFHC and Republic of Yemen
o MOU for ecological studies and conservation
NARC expeditions from 2002 to 2010
Knowledge and conservation so far…
Actual range < 1000 km2
Population in Yemen is presumably less than 100 individuals
In most suitable habitats the density is about 0.3 ind/km2

9. In Arabian Peninsula
• IFHC and Republic of Yemen
o MOU for ecological studies and conservation
o Ex-situ conservation in Abu Dhabi with a small
conservation breeding
Knowledge and conservation so far…

10. In Arabian Peninsula
• IFHC and Republic of Yemen
o MOU for ecological studies and conservation
o Ex-situ conservation in Abu Dhabi with a small
conservation breeding
Knowledge and conservation so far…
Situation end 2016
Production 2016
Natural breeding of couples in cages
Too few copulations and a lot of unfertile eggs

11. In Arabian Peninsula
• IFHC and Republic of Yemen
o Public awareness
Knowledge and conservation so far…

12. In Africa
• SCF and partners (DFCAP)
• Pan Saharan Wildlife Survey (2009-2012)
• Research based on SCF data: Niche Modelling and
habitat selection (Patin 2015)
Knowledge and conservation so far…
SCF bustard observations in Termit &
Tin-Toumma National Nature
Reserves between 2002 and 2012

13. In Africa
• Niche Modelling and habitat selection (Patin 2015)
Knowledge and conservation so far…
Crucial questions to maximize conservation measures:
where do bustards spend their time?
what is constraining their movements?
Arabian bustard
prefers areas with
higher mean NDVI
(Normalized Difference
Vegetation Index)

14. In Niger, Zinder
Partnership SCF – IFHC – RENECO – DFCAP

15. Objectives:
• Trapping of adult Arabian bustards
• Tag individuals with GPS PTT Satellite transmitters
• Monitor their movements
ü Seasonal range
ü Habitat use and selection
• Assess their survival
• Gather additional data on their breeding biology
• Collect blood samples for genetic analysis
Partnership SCF – IFHC – RENECO – DFCAP

16. A 20 days field mission end of July 2016
Prior to the breeding season
Fieldwork

17. ZINDER

18. Habitat

22. Survey From Gadabedji to Kandil Bouzou : 1800 km of track
43 Arabian bustard Density 0.5 ind/ km²
22 Nubian bustard

23. Trapping Traditional hunters provided by the Sultan of Zinder

27. 10 bustards trapped
• 7 females
• 2 males
• 1 male died after capture
Average weight kg
Sex N Average SD
female 6 4.2 0.6
male 4 8.4 0.6

29. 4 females confirmed nesting in August
1 probably reared chicks

32. What about movements of
Arabian bustards in Yemen?

36. Home Ranges (dBBMM)
• Yemen 7 individuals
• Niger 7 individuals
Country HR 50% HR 80%
average 0.59 3.43
SD 0.45 2.13
average 0.40 2.65
SD 0.06 3.06
Yemen
Niger
50% HR
80% HR
One or two individuals move more
Small sample sizes

37. What about local movements and
habitat selection ?

39. Habitat selection in Niger?

40. Village proximity
Selection of fields?
Habitat selection in Niger?

41. Habitat selection in Yemen ?

42. Habitat selection in Yemen ?
5 years of
monitoring

43. Habitat selection in Yemen ?
Cultivated
areas

44. Habitat selection in Yemen ?
Cultivated
areas

45. Seasonal changes
- Breeding?
- Cultivation practices?
Habitat selection in Yemen ?

46. Seasonal changes
- Breeding?
- Cultivation practices?
Habitat selection in Yemen ?

50. Model fitting and estimates were obtained with linear mixed-effects (lmer) package in R, and the
‘anova’ function.
There was no difference in home ranges between months in Yemen birds (year and individual were
random effect).
(ANOVA, F (11) = 1.53, p = 0.13)
There was no difference in average monthly home range between years (months and individual
were fitted as random effect).
(ANOVA F (9) = 1.24, p = 0.28).
There was no difference in average monthly home range between Yemen and Niger birds (month, year and
individual were fitted as random effect)(ANOVA F (2) = 0.21, p = 0.65)