Blakiston’s Fish Owl Conservation
Implications of Conservation and Management of Old-Growth Riparian Forests in the Russian Far East

What species: Blakiston’s fish-owl (Ketupa blakistoni), Hodgson’s hawk-eagle (Spizaetus nipalensis), White-tailed sea-eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), Scaly-sided merganser (Mergus squamatus), Long-billed plover (Charadrius dubius), Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata), Steller’s sea-eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus).

Where: Eastern Siberia. Specifically, the eastern slope of the north-central Sikhote-Alin Mountains, Primorye, Russia.

Who: Jonathan Slaght, in association with the University of Minnesota, the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Biology and Soil Science, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. See the fish-owl website.

When: December 2006 – present

Why (threats): Logging is a major threat to old growth riparian areas in eastern Russia and it is therefore critically important to conservation of Blakiston’s fish-owls and other endangered species. Although Russian law protects riparian areas from harvest, riparian areas are still impacted, directly or indirectly, by logging. This is because the law is not always enforced in remote areas of the Russian Far East and loopholes in the law are often exploited. Riparian areas are also impacted indirectly by the creation of roads to facilitate resource extraction. Old-growth Japanese poplar—a favored fish-owl nest tree species—is chosen by loggers to create makeshift bridges across waterways. Ash and Mongolian oak, also important fish-owl nest trees, are valued in the timber industry and removed illegally in high volume. Furthermore, logging roads often remain accessible after an area has been harvested. Accessibility often leads to illegal logging in riparian areas.

Current Scientific or Conservation Problem this Project Addresses: For conservation to be effective, management plans must be based on strong science and provide a defensible mechanism for balancing wildlife needs with sustainable resource use. To this end, knowledge of how a species utilizes habitat is fundamentally important. However, little such understanding presently exists for Blakiston’s fish-owls and the species is therefore not effectively protected. In fact, more than 95% of known Blakiston’s fish-owl territories in Primorye fall outside the borders of existing nature preserves. Despite Primorye’s importance to biodiversity preservation in Russia, few projects in the province have been designed with sufficient scientific or statistical rigor to guide conservation.

Current Goals: We presently hope to capture as many fish-owls as we can over the broadest possible area, so that we can most accurately describe habitat use by this species. Capture and data collection will be ongoing until at least 2010.

Next Steps: We will attempt new captures and recaptures in August 2008, and again in winter 2009 to maximize our sample size and to better understand the species.

Project Description and Current Status: Blakiston’s fish-owl (Ketupa blakistoni) is a charismatic, endangered owl associated with old-growth riparian forests in northeast Asia. Approximately 1,000 pairs of these massive birds (≥72 cm height; ≥4 kg weight) are thought to persist in the wild, with very few represented in zoos. In contrast to the island subspecies (approx. 60 pairs), which has been studied in Japan, little is known about the mainland subspecies in Russia (approx. 800 pairs). This information deficit is largely due to the elusive nature of the species and difficulties associated with data collection in this remote region.

The greatest global concentrations of Blakiston’s fish-owl are thought to occur along remote river systems in Primorye, the southern-most province in the Russian Far East. Positioned between the Sea of Japan, China, and North Korea, Primorye has a low human population density and is notable for its severe winters and unique wildlife. The province contains the highest biodiversity in Russia: Primorye is the only place in the world where the boreal and subtropical biomes intermingle, and Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) and Amur leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis) share lush forests with brown bears (Ursus arctos) and wolves (Canis lupus).

Avian predators here are equally diverse; Blakiston’s fish-owl is one of 12 owl species that occurs in Primorye alone. The old-growth riparian forests inhabited by Blakiston’s fish-owls are shared by many other threatened birds, including breeding species such as Hodgson’s hawk-eagle (Spizaetus nipalensis), White-tailed sea-eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), Scaly-sided merganser (Mergus squamatus), Long-billed plover (Charadrius dubius), and Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata); and wintering species such as Steller’s sea-eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus).

Threatened mammal species that share habitat with Blakiston’s fish-owls include the Amur tiger, Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), brown bear, and yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula). In addition to high intrinsic value for global biodiversity, Primorye's forests have high economic value in the global market, and demand for timber has led to unsustainable harvest practices in the region.

The primary goal of this study is to develop a Blakiston’s fish-owl conservation plan for Primorye, Russia. Specifically, this goal will be accomplished by meeting three primary objectives: (1) develop an understanding of Blakiston’s fish-owl resource selection, (2) map Primorye to indicate areas of high Blakiston’s fish-owl probability-of-use, and (3) develop conservation recommendations for Blakiston’s fish-owls. To meet this goal we tag owls with VHF and GPS transmitters to monitor their movements and habitat use. Once data collection is complete, we will construct a probability-of-use map based on this information. The map will allow us to identify potential Blakiston’s fish-owl ‘hot spots’ in Primorye and thus focus species conservation and habitat management efforts. Finally, we will use this probability-of-use map to frame our recommendations for areas of high conservation priority, and to develop recommendations for management and use of old-growth river valleys.

The secondary goals of this project are to (1) increase local Russian scientific capacity, and (2) increase Blakiston’s fish-owl conservation awareness.

Study of a radio-marked study population of Blakiston’s fish-owls is the only feasible way to gather key information about the species, including resource selection at varying spatial scales, seasonal variation in selection, territorial behavior, and fitness (survival, reproduction, and dispersal). By understanding Blakiston’s fish-owl habitat needs and spatial distribution, we can also estimate the potential population size and status of these owls in Primorye. Our results will help guide our selection of high priority conservation areas to most effectively conserve the species. By extension, conservation of Blakiston’s fish-owl habitat has an umbrella effect by protecting the habitats of numerous other species that rely on riparian forests.

Once our study is completed, we intend to work with decision makers in conservation and the logging industry in order to ensure that our strategies are implemented.

This study represents a collaborative effort between the University of Minnesota, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The nature of this international collaboration allows us to address our secondary project goals directly and effectively. Our work has been approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, and is endorsed by the Raptor Taxon Advisory Group of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

To date, we have captured eight Blakiston’s fish-owls over two field seasons, and have already collected valuable habitat use data from five of these birds.

Funding: Fieldwork for 2007-2008 was partially supported by a grant from the National Aviary.