SA’s National Bird Threatened as Numbers Crash

The strikingly handsome Blue Crane, South Africa’s national bird, has recently been declared “vulnerable” – just one conservation category of threat below “endangered”.

• The Blue Crane’s population has been declining since 2010, prompting its official status change from “near threatened” to “vulnerable” in the Regional Red Data Book of Birds 2025.
• Research shows breeding success in the Western Cape’s Overberg region has halved over 30 years, with pairs now raising just 0.55 fledglings on average.
• A conservation plan is being implemented to address threats that include power line collisions, poisoning, climate change and habitat disturbance.

South Africa’s national bird, the Blue Crane, is in trouble. Until just 15 years ago, numbers of this stately bird — a firm favourite of nature lovers — were increasing well. But research has now shown that the species’ overall population trajectory changed in 2010, from positive to negative, and that the downward trend has continued since then.

The total current estimated population of Blue Crane in South Africa is between 34,000 and 68,000. This represents a stable decline over the past 15 years, between 27% and 49%.

As a result, the Blue Crane’s official conservation status has recently been officially changed to reflect this deterioration from Near Threatened to Vulnerable in the newly published Regional Red Data Book of Birds 2025.

Vulnerable reflects a higher category of threat – just below Endangered and Critically Endangered status on the Red List. This means that without significant conservation efforts, these species are likely to become endangered in the near future and face a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium term.

The Blue Crane is one of only three crane species that occur in the sub-continent, with the Wattled Crane and the Grey Crowned Crane, and is “near endemic” to South Africa. Outside the country, there is a small, critically endangered, population in and around Etosha National Park in northern Namibia, and a second small population in western Eswatini (Swaziland).

While its occasional presence has been recorded in a vast area across the sub-region, the species’ main “area of occupancy” in South Africa is a little under 400,000km², mostly in dry, open and shrubby grassland habitats, but often in farmlands – particularly in the Western Cape wheatlands and increasingly in the Karoo, where they are found on irrigated lucerne lands.

According to the entry in the Red Data book, the South Africa population of the Blue Crane can be broadly divided into three sub-populations: the eastern grasslands that host about 8% of national population; the Karoo with around 31%; and the Western Cape wheatlands with 61%.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), a key partner in the African Crane Conservation Programme and also in partnership with the International Crane Foundation, says there is “growing concern” about the Blue Crane’s future.

This is particularly so in the Overberg region of the Western Cape where the bird occurs at higher densities than anywhere else in the country.

The conservation group says the reasons behind the dramatic decline in crane numbers in the Overberg over the past 15 years are unclear, but research is providing some pointers. These include recent research into the species’ long-term viability by EWT conservation scientist Dr Christie Craig.

Craig found that breeding success in the Overberg has halved since the last published study 30 years ago. Pairs now raise on average just 0.55 fledglings – “far below what is needed to sustain the population”, says the EWT.

MSc student Michelle Bouwer at UCT’s FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology has found that key drivers of nest failure in the Overberg are disturbance and high temperatures.

“This is concerning, given that climate change models predict significant drying and warming in the Western Cape,” EWT said.

Fence entanglement, affecting Blue Crane chicks that can’t fly yet, remains another serious threat, as does secondary poisoning in the Overberg and Swartland through pesticide use targeting other pest species such as geese or rodents.

“This further highlights the importance of conservation presence in the landscape to ensure that illegal poisonings don’t go undetected, and to make certain that farmers have support to deal with crop damage problems,” said the EWT.

There is some good news in that the acute threat of power line collisions in the Overberg has decreased during the past 15 years, and this can be attributed to “concerted efforts” of partnership between the EWT and Eskom to make power lines more visible.

“Nonetheless, collision with power lines remains the main threat to Blue Cranes, and ongoing mitigation is necessary, especially as new power lines are added to connect renewable energy to the grid. This is particularly a threat in the Renewable Energy Development Zones of the Overberg and Karoo,” the Trust said.

EWT points out that farmers have a “vital” role to play in Blue Crane conservation.

“Encouragingly, many farmers have already embraced their role as custodians of these birds, showing that agricultural productivity and biodiversity conservation can go hand-in-hand. Their commitment forms the backbone of South Africa’s Blue Crane conservation efforts.”

With the help of the Conservation Planning Specialist Group of the IUCN (World Conservation Union), the EWT and the International Crane Foundation partnership has coordinated a conservation planning process for the Blue Crane. Participants include the Overberg Crane Group, CapeNature, Wool Growers Association, Kogelberg Biosphere Rehabilitation Centre, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Eskom and Birdlife SA.

“This conservation plan specifies several actions that will be implemented in the coming years, including mitigating the impacts of power lines and poisoning, working with the agricultural sector to reduce threats, and protecting natural habitats that support Blue Cranes,” says the EWT.

“We’re confident that with coordinated, evidence-driven conservation action we can turn around the environmental status of the Blue Crane.”

Blue Cranes perform elegant dance routines during their elaborate courtship rituals.

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