34 new Griffon Vultures arrived from Spain

The 34 griffon vultures are mostly juveniles, that entered rehabilitation centers in Extremadura (Spain), having been found wounded or exhausted during their dispersion phase (autumn). All these birds have been successfully rehabilitated, but instead of releasing them in Spain, they got the chance to take part in the recovery of their population in the Balkan Mountains of Bulgaria. The odd travellers were provided by VCF, through the kind cooperation of Junta the Extremadura and AMUS.

The journey began on November 28th 2014 and after almost 4000 km through France, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary and Romania, at 2 am on December 1st, the birds successfully arrived in Stara Zagora.

This is the last shipment of Griffon Vultures within the Vultures Return in Bulgaria LIFE08 NAT/BG/278 Project. The birds will stay for quarantine at the Wildlife Rescue Centre at Green Balkans - Stara Zagora and will then be transferred to the specialized vulture adaptation aviaries in the Balkan Mountains. Before that, our team will fit them with rings and wing-tags to allow us to follow their dispersal and behaviour into the wild.

We will keep you posted!

Pictures are kindly provided by VCF.

For more information, please contact:
Elena Kmetova
Project manager of the Vultures Return in Bulgaria
Phone: + 359 885 219 557; ekmetova@greenbalkans.org