 |
Madagascar fish eagle |
The island endemic Madagascar fish eagle (Haliaeetus vociferoides) is currently listed by IUCN as critically endangered, with a known population of 222 individuals recorded during the last survey in 1995. The species’ conservation status was assigned based on an assumption of a recent and continuing population decline.
The fish eagle is currently patchily distributed along Madagascar’s western seaboard, with three areas of particularly high population density. In one of these ‘sub-populations’, the eagles exhibit a unique array of breeding strategies, including monogamy, polyandry, polygyny, polygynandry and homosexuality, which may affect immigration and emigration between the three areas. In addition, there is an unusual social hierarchy amongst groups of cooperatively breeding fish eagles, whereby male dominance status is apparently not related to paternity.
 |
Sampling blood for genetic analyses |
Our current research builds on our earlier studies on this species and seeks to address issues at two temporal and three spatial scales. Firstly, we are comparing DNA between the historical (pre-decline) population (tissue from museum specimens) and the contemporary population (blood samples), to investigate whether temporal molecular changes support the population decline hypothesis. Secondly, we are investigating gene flow between the three core subpopulations, to assess whether these groups are genetically isolated and thus require individual management strategies. Thirdly, we are conducting paternity tests amongst dominant and subordinate males in cooperatively breeding groups, to assess whether social status influences reproduction. We are also assessing the level of inbreeding both within and between groups, as our banding studies suggest that many groups comprise first-order relatives.
Prinicipal Investigator: R. Tingay
Collaborators: J. Johnson, D. Mindell, U. of Michigan, and The Peregrine Fund, Inc.
For further information please contact: ruth.tingay@natural-research.org
Photographs copyright R. Tingay
|
