Conservation Status
The White-bellied Sea Eagle is listed as being of Least Concern by the IUCN. There are an estimated 10 to 100 thousand individuals, although there seems to be a decline in numbers. They have become rare in Thailand and some other parts of southeast Asia. They are relatively abundant in Hong Kong, where the population increased from 39 to 57 birds between 2002 and 2009. A field study on Kangaroo Island in South Australia showed that nesting pairs in areas of high human disturbance (as defined by clearing of landscape and high human activity) had lower breeding success rates. In the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, nests have been vacated as human activities have encroached on the eagles' territories. Elsewhere, the clearing of trees suitable for nesting has seen it largely disappear locally, such as the removal of stands of Casuarina equisetifolia in Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh in India. In India, nest densities of about one per 4.32 km have been noted in Sindhudurg and one per 3.57 km (45 nests along 161 km) in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. They also nest on Netrani Island where they are disturbed by torpedo-firing exercises conducted by the Indian navy. Nearly 100 nests have been noted on this island.
DDT was a widely used pesticide in agriculture that was found to have significant adverse effects on wildlife, particularly egg thinning and subsequent breakage in birds of prey. A review of DDT's impact on Australian raptors between 1947 and 1993 found that the average egg-shell thickness had decreased by 6%. This average level of thinning was not thought likely to result in significantly more breakage overall, however individual clutches that had been even thinner might have broken. The White-bellied Sea Eagle was one of the more affected species, probably due to its feeding in areas heavily treated with pesticide such as swamps. DDT use peaked in 1973, but was no longer approved after 1987 and its use had effectively ceased by 1989.
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