Bio-logging, new technologies to study conservation physiology on the move: a case study on annual survival of Himalayan vultures

Abstract

Bio-logging, the on-animal deployment of miniaturised electronic data recorders, allows for the study of location, body position, and physiology of individuals throughout their ontogeny. For terrestrial animals, 1 Hz GPS-position, 3D-body acceleration, and ambient temperature provide standard data to link to the physiology of life histories. Environmental context is added at ever finer scales using remote sensing earth observation data. Here we showcase the use of such bio-logging approaches in a conservation physiology study on endangered Himalayan vultures (Gyps himalayensis). We determine environmental, behavioural, and physiological causes of survival in immature birds that roam from wintering sites in India, Bhutan, and Nepal towards summer areas in Tibet and Mongolia. Five of 18 immature griffons died during one year. Individuals that died had failed to migrate sufficiently far northward (>1500 km) in spring. Individuals likely died if they flew against headwinds from the north or were less able to find thermal updrafts. Surviving individuals migrated to cold and dry areas with low population density. We highlight flight experience, long distance movements, and remote places with low human population as factors critical for the survival of Himalayan vultures. High-resolution bio-logging studies can advance conservation management by pinpointing where and why migratory animals have problems and die.