Egyptian Vulture in the Karatau Mountains and Adjacent Territories, Kazakhstan

Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is a globally threatened species. The northernmost limit of its breeding range is located in Kazakhstan and is fragmented into three large enclaves. The Karatau range is one such enclave. It was previously assumed that a small number of Egyptian Vultures nested here; however, research showed the fallacy of such ideas in 2010. In 2022, Karatau was surveyed in more detail to detect Egyptian Vultures. Based on the results of studies in 2010 and 2022, we modeled Egyptian Vulture distribution in Google Earth Engine using the image classification method — Random Forest (probability + regression) and calculated its possible abundance in Karatau utilizing several methods, including Distance Sampling. The area of Egyptian Vulture breeding biotopes is calculated to be 10,378.85 km2, habitat area – 34,576.8 km2. The Egyptian Vulture population in Karatau for 2022 is estimated at 171–298 breeding pairs (average of 278 breeding pairs), and 43–74 successful pairs (average of 69 successful pairs) (91 breeding territories are known). Based on obtained data and publications analysis, we assume that the Karatau Egyptian Vulture population is stable despite deterioration in habitat quality and reduction in breeding success of the species in recent years.