Vultures: their Evolution, Ecology and Conservation

This book is an authoritative and well written review of vulture ecology and conservation. It brings together the latest studies and established research into a clearly structured textbook to give a good overview of the subject.

The book has three main sections. Firstly, readers are introduced to the ecology, morphology, systematics and conservation status of each vulture species with descriptions of appearance, foraging and breeding behaviours. The second section covers vulture evolution, describing the evidence used for vulture classification. It includes a fascinating discussion of the interactions between vultures, other species, climate and landscapes. Finally, the third section examines vulture conservation, discussing the main past and present threats. This includes environmental change, hunting, intentional and accidental poisoning and collisions with wind turbines and power lines. It also covers in detail the research that eventually identified the anti-inflammatory drug that caused vulture population crashes across Asia.

While this book was brings together a broad array of vulture conservation literature, I felt the synthesis of information could have been taken further to draw conclusions about the relative importance of threats. However, as highlighted by the author, vulture conservation involves many complex issues which require much further research to understand and quantify. This book provides an accessible and well-referenced review of our current knowledge of vultures.

Book reviewed by Blaise Martay