37 more Griffon Vultures now live in the Balkan Mountains

Thirty three of the vultures arrived from Spain, a young male was donated by the Dutch Zoos of Dierenrijk, while Simon and Willy were donated by Burger’s Zoo and the last one Matej - was granted by Ostrava Zoo, the Czech Republic. All of them arrived in the late autumn of 2013 and our team decided that it was better for them to spend the winter at the Rescue Centre. With spring, their new adventures on the way to freedom begin.

All the birds were examined, treated for parasites and marked with individual yellow wing tags, PCV rings and standard ornithological rings. These tags will help us identify them and follow their adaptation into the wild.

Seven of the vultures were sent to Vrachanski Balkan, ten were accommodated in Central Balkan, fifteen were transferred to Sliven and five - to Kotel.
From the captive bred birds, Simon (tagged K7T) and the young male from Dierenrijk (K87) already live in Central Balkan, while Willy (K7R) and Matej (K88) - in the Sinite kamani Nature Park, above Sliven.

The birds will stay here for several months until they adapt and get used to the landscape of the Balkan Mountains. After that, we will open the doors and grant them freedom, hoping that they would stay and breed in the four areas.

The newcomers took the place of several vultures we released earlier this month. A total of seven vultures were set free in Vrachanski Balkan, ten - in Central Balkan, five in Sliven and four more in Kotel. This makes for over 160 vultures released so far, resulting in a total of five suspected pairs breeding in three of the release sites and more of our birds breeding in the Eastern Rhodopes and Macedonia.

Bon chance to the new vultures! Our efforts in restoring the species will continue!

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