Bank Cormorant

Projektpartner: SANCCOB

Status Ongoing

The Bank Cormorant (Phalacrocorax neglectus) is an endemic marine bird of southwestern Africa, breeding in both Namibia and South Africa. The species is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red Data List due to an estimated 66% decrease in the overall population.


In 2011 the world population estimate was 3,000 breeding pairs, with simple regression suggesting extinction of the species by 2030. Various factors have been identified as possibly contributing to this rapid decline, including changes in the biology of the main prey species, human disturbance, oiling, displacement from breeding habitat, predation and extreme weather events.

The Species Conservation Foundation (Stiftung Artenschutz) supports a study by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), which aims to identify the causes of death in the wild. The study will contribute to the current knowledge around the reasons for the rapid decline in Bank Cormorant numbers and improve the rehabilitation process and the success rate of bird release.

SANCCOB is a non-profit organisation whose primary objective is to reverse the decline of seabird populations through the rescue, rehabilitation and release of ill, injured, abandoned and oiled seabirds.