First attempts for copulations of the pair of Egyptian Vultures at the Wildlife Rescue Centre of Green Balkans

Really wonderful things happen at the Rescue Centre this spring! Yet another long wait is finally over and we saw the first attempts for copulation of the pair of Egyptian Vultures.

The first timid attempts of the birds are a real news for our team after we spent years hoping for that.

We can say that both birds originate from Bulgaria.
The female was admitted at the Rescue Centre in the spring of 2007 as a suspected victim of chicken pox. She and her sibling came together, collected from a nest from the area of Madzharovo, Eastern Rhodopes. Our colleagues from BSPB spotted that there was a problem with the two chicks during an attempt to ring them in the nest and this is how they were admitted at the Rescue Centre as non-fledged babies. The female was less affected by the disease and fortunately survived, unlike her badly sick sibling. As she was however too weak, our team decided not to release her. Egyptian Vultures are migratory and the long way filled with dangers would have almost certainly killed her.

The male, which is significantly younger, hatched in 2012 in Sofia Zoo. In 2014 our colleagues sent the bird to us, hoping to form a pair of this critically endangered species.

The birds have been together for two years, in an aviary constructed with the financial support of the City Council of Prague through the kind assistance of Mr. Antonin Vaidl, the coordinator of the Egyptian Vulture Endangered Species Programme at the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. The aviary of the birds has been recently renovated and equipped with cameras, which allowed us to spot the first signals that they like each other.

Egyptian Vultures are globally endangered. Previously common and wide spread, today their population in Bulgaria accounts for barely 28 pairs in 2016 and has been undergoing a dramatic decline in the past few years. The species is extremely susceptible to poison and this is why Green Balkans is implementing an active campaign against their illegal use, while offering safe food at specialized supplementary feeding sites. We hope to play an even greater role in the in-situ conservation of the species, forming a breeding pair at the Wildlife Rescue Centre in Stara Zagora. We believe that every single chick fledged and added to a population that can barely produce some twenty birds per year, counts for the preservation of the species. in addition to that pair, the Wildlife Rescue Centre maintains 7 more young birds, which are not suitable for release. The females are chicks fallen from nests in Bulgaria, while the males are captive bred and brought from the Czech Republic especially for our ladies.

So, we hope to soon be able to announce even better news, while you stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed for our Egyptian Vultures!