A LEAP Forward in Wildlife Conservation: A Standardized Framework to Determine Mortality Causes in Large GPS-Tagged Birds
Anthropogenic activities are a major driver of wildlife mortality, making it essential to accurately determine the causes and locations of deaths to inform conservation efforts. This study presents the LIFE EUROKITE Assessment Protocol (LEAP), a standardized framework designed to identify the timing, location, and cause of mortality in GPS-tagged birds. LEAP integrates three key data sources: high-resolution GPS tracking, field investigations at mortality sites, and necropsy results. Using data from 329 deceased GPS-tagged red kites (Milvus milvus), the study demonstrates that LEAP enables quicker carcass recovery and higher-quality mortality assessments compared to opportunistic approaches. When all three data sources were available, LEAP provided high-quality assessments in 64% of cases. Even without necropsy, 35% of cases still achieved high reliability through tracking and site data alone. The study also found that reliance on specific data types influenced mortality interpretations—for example, predation was overestimated in the absence of necropsy, while poisoning was more accurately detected through post-mortem analysis. LEAP represents a significant advancement in wildlife monitoring, offering conservationists and wildlife managers a robust, standardized tool for understanding and mitigating bird mortality.
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