猛禽類の生息地保全の試みと今後
Trials and Future of Raptor Habitat Protection
井上剛彦 極東イヌワシ・クマタカ研究グループ代表 クマタカ生態研究グループ副代表
Takehiko INOUE

Representative of the Working Group for the Research of the Golden Eagle & Mountain Hawk Eagle
in the far east
Vice-Representative of the Working Group for the Research and Conservation of the Japanese Mountain Hawk-Eagle[Slide 1] I would like to talk about theRegarding the raptor habitat, this is usually located on aneed to protect habitats for large

steep cliff or a very tall tree that is inaccessible toraptors and the challenges for thehumans. Raptors have to be able to cover a vast area

future. First, allow me explain what

within which to catch living prey. This is part of theirraptors are.

destiny at the top the food chain.

[Slide 2] Raptors have many external

There is one especially peculiar feature within theirfeatures derived from their remarkable flying power

biology. In other animals and birds, the male of theand hunting ability. They have long been a source ofspecies is usually bigger than the female. But in raptors

fascination for people all over the world and repeatedly

it is the other way around. This tendency isadopted as a symbol of power and authority because ofcharacterized by the prey they eat. The smaller hawks

their valiant look and ﬂying attitude. However in morethat catch fast and active birds tend to have a bigger

recent years, as a result of false information that theysize diﬀerence between the male and female.

attack farm animals or steal children, raptors havebecome victims of human hostility. They have suﬀeredBecause they exist at the top of the food chain,as human weaponry has developed and from our use of

Falconiformes are destined to suffer effects related tomodern chemicals. Especially due to Manʼs extensive

environmental change the most. From a researcher

use of agricultural chemicals and pesticides for farming,

standpoint this impact on raptors can be considered as

there have been many harmful effects caused byan indicator of environmental change.

concentrated chemicals making their way through thefood chain. Raptors are at the top of the food chain and[Slide 4] Do you know how many species of

poisoning deaths have been confirmed. In addition

Falconiformes (so called raptors) exist in the world?

their eggshells have sometimes suﬀered thinning which

There are approximately 9,000 species of bird in thedisables extrication. Likewise, falcons in America cameworld and about 540 of them are found in Japan. Thereto the edge of extinction due to DDE and there haveare about 290 conﬁrmed raptor species of which almost

been mass vulture deaths in India (and other countries)

20 are seen in Japan. But over 44 raptor species are incaused by the drug Diclofenac. Now, I would like todanger of disappearing. There are many diﬀerent kinds

explain raptor characteristics a little more speciﬁcally.

of raptors living in the world.

[Slide 3] First of all, regarding their morphological[Slide 5] The photographs in the slide here show Goldenfeatures, raptors have an ideal form and specialized

Eagles and Mountain Hawk-Eagles that live in Suzuka

abilities for flying. They have also developed legs andMountains. It takes an enormous amount of time andsharp claws for catching prey. Their eyesight capability

eﬀort to conduct research on raptors.

is astonishing - reportedly eight times better than24

human vision. You can easily understand this when you[Slide 6] As shown in this slide, the content of therealize how big their eyes are compared to their bodyresearch ranges widely across various ﬁelds. We conduct

size.

research on populations, the current situation of local

ワークショップⅨ

野生動物の保護管理〜生息地保護と有効活用environments, bird relationships with humans, and sochemicals are among the other causes.

on. Let me introduce how we conduct our research inmore detail.

[Slide 10] Let's take a look at the current situation in
Japan. Roughly speaking, we do have some endangered[Slide 7] As you can see from these pictures we climb up

species such as Golden Eagles and Mountain Hawk-

to the nests of Mountain Hawk-Eagles and investigate

Eagles. We have also identiﬁed some rapidly decreasing

what types of prey they are eating. We do this byspecies such as the Grey-faced Buzzard as well as somecollecting the bones left inside the nests. We also

increasing species such as the Northern Goshawk. Someinvestigate their behavior across vast mountain ranges

species are difficult to protect if only one country

and hidden woods by attaching transmitters to their tailimplements positive measures. For example, thefeathers. Since they ﬂy across very wide areas, when weSteller's Sea Eagle passes the wintertime in Japan but

cannot track them by car, we sometimes use helicopters

breeds in Russia.

to search for their habitats from the air.
[Slide 11] Now I would like to talk a little about Golden
We also carry out health check-ups on chicks. We

Eagles which I myself research.

measure their body and check their blood. It is diﬃcult
to distinguish one individual from another by[Slide 12] As shown on the left of the chart, it is believed

appearance so we occasionally attach various kinds ofthat there were more than 700 pairs of these birds

markers for identification. Through all thesebefore the war. However, according to the latest

investigations into raptor behavior, our information

national investigation conducted by Ministry of theabout what they are doing, where they do it and how

Environment, only 250 pairs now appear to exist. Thelong for, is gradually becoming clearer.

data also tells us that the distribution range is growing
smaller in the Kyushu and Chugoku areas meaning that

[Slide 8] This is reference data from a case in Englanda changing vegetation environment and so on has

looking at how human activities have affected themade it more diﬃcult for Golden Eagles to live in those

reproduction of small hawks (called sparrow hawks)

areas.

over a long period of time. As the graph shows, during
the World War II period, a time when people had no[Slide 13] The next slide shows a comparison between

interest in sparrow hawks, their reproduction rate rose

the causes of breeding failure in Golden Eagles fromsharply. However, after the war, the rates dropped

about 20 years ago and in the past 10 years. According

down again as farmers began to use agriculturalto the chart, the blue portion indicates a rapidly

chemicals and pesticides. Following this research,increased shortage of food while the red portion shows

scientists started to measure environmental

the current status of reproducing birds. The data shows

contamination on a world-wide basis and some small

an increase in cases of birds that are too young or too

improvements have been observed in the recent years.

old and unable to produce eggs or grow their chicks
properly.

[Slide 9] However, there are still many species of
Falconiformes in danger of extinction. The causes forOn the other hand, nest-abandonment due to man-this critical situation are summarized in this slide which

made causes has reduced. Such causes include ski resort

uses data combined from documents around the world.

and dam developments (and the harmful effects they

The main cause is “loss of habitat”. With the expansioncan bring), and photographers wanting to take picturesof human activities and land utilization, Hawk-Eagles

close to nests.

are actually losing the only habitats they can live in. As
explained earlier, hunting, poisoning (to protect farm

[Slide 14] The next slide shows the annual change inanimals) and biological concentration of agricultural

breeding success rates (percentages) for Golden Eagles

Workshop Ⅸ Conservation and Management of Wildlife 〜 Protecting Habitats and Eﬀective Usage25

across the country as investigated by the Society forthe situation ever reaches such a dire state.

Research of Golden Eagle Japan. In 1980s the rate wasalways around 40% but, in the 1990s, the rates startedCase studies from overseas demonstrate that it isto decrease to nearly 20%.

essential for the authorities to recruit specialized humanresources so that they have internal expertise and can[Slide 15] The number of confirmed Golden Eagles

make pursue conservation efforts as national projects.

within the country is now about 650 and I have

We should not depend on NGOs entirely.

calculated how this number is likely to change in thefuture by applying models used by researchers[Slide 17] Next, I would like to talk about the importanceoverseas. The red line traces a gradual descent thatof habitats. Falconiformes live in a wide variety ofreaches about 30% decline in 30 years. If you consider

environments. This slide lists the classification of

the decline in breeding success percentages that I

environmentally-protected areas in Japan based on

mentioned earlier, a large part of the population islegal rationale. [Slide 18~20] You can tell how intricately

going to be made up of older birds as Golden Eagles

they are classified by each authority, location andhave a rather long life-span. There will also be apurpose.

decrease in the number of fledged birds which
decreases the number of birds active in reproduction, a[Slide 21] In this slide, you can see cases that protect thedecline which itself creates a negative spiral.

habitat areas of Golden Eagles and Mountain HawkEagles which are categorized as large Falconiformes[Slide 16] So there is not much good news for the futureliving and breeding in Japan. Each case is intended toof Falconiformes and I wonder if there are ways byprotect mountains and woods from tourism andwhich they can live in harmony with us. There are 3development. Changing the current environmental

basic means for the conservation of Falconiformes

condition, including logging, construction, etc., isrecognized internationally. These are “securing theirbanned. In principle, these areas have to be protectedhabitats”, “securing their prey [food sources]”, andfrom any kind of human intervention.

“implementing education and edification” to raiseawareness that people need to adhere to some

[Slide 22] As seen in the earlier cases, even if by goodnecessary rules of coexistence.

fortune we could turn a Falconiformes habitat into a
protected area, the number of pairs that can live within

Naturally it is important to secure the birdsʼ habitats andsuch an area is very limited - usually only one pair, or aprey, but the third measure, namely thefew pairs at most. Falconiformes live within vast

“implementation of education and edification” isterritorial areas and such areas for protection areespecially important for people living within the actual

divided up by complex landowning systems andhabitat areas. But it is also important that everybody

national ordinances. But in order to protect wholeelse, in particular those involved in land use, know andspecies we need to protect the land where the chicks

understand the rules for coexistence so that a

are born and grow to independence, as well as thesustainable environment for Falconiformes ishabitats of the other birds they will eventually pair with.

maintained.

This all requires conservation measures over anenormous land area.

In Japan, some concrete protection issues are26

recognized as listed in the slide. The main issue is an

Also for the purpose of securing the gene pool, moreinadequate setting of long-term goals and systematicthan a certain number of pairs need to be protected.

programs. Much attention is focused on returning

Therefore, the reality is that we cannot expect to make

Crested Ibis and Oriental storks to the wild, but it is far

much impact on steady species conservation by only

better to have a good plan and implement it well before

setting up protected areas, although such measures doワークショップⅨ

野生動物の保護管理〜生息地保護と有効活用have a great eﬀect on protecting individuals.

growing into a larger movement with increasingawareness among local peoples.

[Slide 23] In order to protect Falconiformes, a species
with relatively flexible environment adaptability, it is[Slide 26] Lastly, I would like to mention about theimportant to keep the environment of the entire

necessity of, not just creating a good image, but of

ranging areas at an adaptive level for them to live in. On

building a systematic strategy. We hold bird tours andthis point, we could use a conservation management

observation tours with explanations to nurture a deeper

system adopted in England for reference.

understanding among the public so that we can pursue
the protection of raptor habitats within the country.

[Slide 24] Now I would like to talk about what is neededThis also requires creating a fixed schedule andfor habitat protection. First of all, we need to clarify

implementing the programs. Everybody involved

exactly what really needs to be conserved. We have toshould keep in mind that none of this will be put into

make clear what we do and do not know about

practice without basic research.

Falconiformes. In Japan, we are still far from having[Slide 27]

enough basic research. We have also not verified theeﬀectiveness of the conservation measures conductedso far, nor do we have much relevant past experience.
Backed by awareness among the general public, ourtwo main lines of work from now on should be to set up
conservation goals and draw up conservation roadmaps.
[Slide 25] I would like to introduce the cases we at theAsian Raptor Research and Conservation Network areworking on to assess the current situation and forconducting basic research. Since the year 2000 we haveformed a network of researchers from Asian countries
that gathers voluntarily to exchange ideas and sharebasic research results. In the basic research weinvestigate the flight routes of hawks migrating
between countries in Asia. We are also working on
biological research projects to investigate Indian Black
Eagles in Taiwan and Bat Hawks in Malaysia andconducting a distributional survey about MountainHawk-Eagles that are widely spread across Asia. To
prevent Javan Hawk-Eagles from becoming isolated weare also working on forestation projects that restore
habitats separated as environmental conservation areas.
Then, as part of our activities to raise awareness about
the illegality of poaching and utilization of nature fortourism for the residents of habitat areas, we are alsoorganizing eco-tours. We have started biologicalresearch on raptors on Borneo Island and a project tofoster young researchers. These projects are still smallscale and private-sector level but they are steadilyWorkshop Ⅸ Conservation and Management of Wildlife 〜 Protecting Habitats and Eﬀective Usage2728

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