A large number of former nesting sites have been abandoned as a result of egg poaching and land conversion to agriculture. Of the 142 known nesting grounds, only 4 are currently considered non-threatened. The shrinking and fragmentation of forest habitats on the island pose serious threats to the surviving and future populations of the species. Wildfires in 2000 and 2004 cleared large areas of forest and what grew as a result of these fires was not a suitable habitat for the maleo. There has also been increasing isolation between non-breeding habitats and coastal breeding grounds as a result of human urban development. Because of this, mortality risk associated with moving to breeding grounds has drastically increased.