Protected areas enter a new era of uncertain challenges: extinction of a non‐exigent falcon in Doñana National Park

Doñana National Park, renowned for its rich predator community, has witnessed the alarming extinction of the Eurasian hobby (Falco subbuteo), a non-exigent falcon species. Originally abundant with 50–60 pairs, the hobbies were unique specialist hunters of swifts and dragonflies, occupying a distinct niche within the raptor assemblage. The study attributes their rapid decline post-2000 to synergistic factors including prey depletion, farmland intensification, chemical contamination, predation, and climate warming, with most drivers traceable to external pressures like farming practices and climate change. This extinction underscores mounting broad-level pressures on ecosystems, even in well-managed protected areas, highlighting the need for increased knowledge, quality monitoring, and rapid management action to mitigate such losses. The study suggests that unexpected species extinctions will become more common in protected areas due to growing anthropogenic pressures and climate change.

Sergio, F., Blas, J., Tanferna, A., & Hiraldo, F. (2021). Protected areas enter a new era of uncertain challenges: extinction of a non‐exigent falcon in Doñana National Park. Animal Conservation, 25(4), 480–491. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12752