bird with very low population replacement levels. Conservation issues The martial eagle is probably naturally scarce, due to its requirement for large territories and low reproductive rates. Nonetheless, the species has been experiencing a major decline in numbers in recent years, due largely to being directly killed by humans. Its conservation status was uplisted to Near Threatened in 2009 and to Vulnerable in 2013, and once again to Endangered in 2020. As a regional example of their decline: in the former Transvaal Province of South Africa, the total estimated martial eagles present dropped from about 1,500 in the mid-20th century to fewer than 500 by the 1990s. In terms of the level of decline, it rivals the bateleur as the most reduced of all African eagles, a fact already apparent even up to half a century ago from the 2010s. In many areas where they come into contact with humans, eagle populations have decreased greatly through persecution via shooting and poisoning. The reasoning behind such persecution is that martial eagles are taken as a predatory threat to livestock. Despite this perception, in reality domestic animals constitute only a small proportion of the species' diet, whereas the presence of eagles is a sure sign of a healthy environment. In the Cape Province of South Africa, for example, no more than 8% of the diet appeared to consist of domestic stock. This does not take into account, that unlike previously thought, martial eagles do not disdain carrion and some birds, especially immature, are certain to attend carcasses of livestock at times, leading to them being mistaken as stock-killers. 76% of martial eagles, almost all of which were clearly shot, brought into the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe were immature ones, thus immature martial eagles are far more prone to come to livestock as a food source. However, martial eagles will indeed at times kill not inconsiderable numbers of livestock, including goats and sheep (mostly young kids and lambs), chickens, most variety of pets, piglets and possibly newborn calves. The local name of martial eagles in South Africa is lammervanger (or “lamb catcher”). The total number of livestock that martial eagles kill annually is controversial, as the claims made by farmers rival those of Verreaux's eagles and exceed in quantity those made against wedge-tailed eagles and even the much wider ranging golden eagles (both locally considered dangerous to livestock). Up to several hundred