Lammergeier

Lammergeier
Scientific classification
Kingdom Information
Domain	Eukaryota
Kingdom	Animalia
Subkingdom	Bilateria
Phylum Information
Phylum	Chordata
Sub-phylum	Vertebrata
Infraphylum	Gnathostomata
Class Information
Superclass	Tetrapoda
Class	Aves
Sub-class	Neornithes
Order Information
Order	Falconiformes
Family Information
Family	Accipitridae
Sub-family	Aegypiinae
Genus Information
Genus	Gypaetus
Species Information
Species	G. barbatus
Population statistics
Population	2,000-10,000 (2004 est.)
Conservation status	Least concern

Etymology

The name originally came from the German words lämmers + geier, which literally meant "lamb's vulture", in reference to attacks on sheep in the central Alps. The older word ossifrage is based on Latin for "bone-breaker" (oss, "bone" + frangere, "to break"), which was used in Leviticus 11:13 to identify this bird specifically, as well as prohibit the ancient Israelites from eating this or any other bird of prey.

Subspecies

Up to thirteen subspecies have been claimed for this bird, based on differences in size and appearance, but two are commonly recognized by scientists:

• Gypaetus barbatus barbatus

Southern Europe, northwest Africa, central and northeast China

• Gypaetus barbatus meridionalis

Eastern and southern Africa, southern Arabian Peninsula

Threats

Lammergeiers are classified as "Least concern" in the IUCN Red List, due to the extremely large range the bird has in Eurasia and Africa; the population overall has been estimated to be about 10,000 birds, yet an accurate count is difficult due to the nature of the terrain in which they live as well as the vast distances flown by individual birds when foraging. Persecution in areas where sheep and goat herders drive their flocks have caused a regional extinction of lammergeiers within the southern Balkans of Europe, Syria, and Jordan; they have been recently reintroduced to the Alps of Switzerland, Austria, and Italy.