Three young Egyptian vultures are already flying freely in the skies of the Eastern Rhodopes

Three young Egyptian vultures - Zara, Izi and Sofia - are already flying freely in the skies of the Eastern Rhodopes, after spending a little more than two months in a special adaptation aviary. Zara and Izi were hatched at the Wildlife Rehabilitation and Breeding Centre of Green Balkans in Stara Zagora, and Sofia was raised by her parents at the Sofia Zoo.A few days prior release the birds were tagged with GPS-GSM transmitters by a joint team of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds and Green Balkans. Through the transmitters, the experts are tracking their behaviour in nature and the process of adaptation.

Zara and Sofia are two years old and Izi was hatched last year as part of an experimental program aiming to find the best method for a future restocking program for the species on the Balkans. The concept of the delayed-release method is to release birds, which have been kept in captivity for more than a year after hatching, and then placed in an adaptation aviary in the wild.

This year, for the first time, two-year-old birds were released in order to see what would be the behaviour during adaptation and migration of slightly older individuals. It is considered that the delayed-release will help them to better adapt into the wild, and would provide them with enough time to gain the experience to cope with their first migration - the most deadly challenge for young Egyptian vultures in the Balkans.

The method was first implemented in Bulgaria in 2018, and since then seven young birds were released through this adaptation aviary. Thanks to the transmitters, the team of the LIFE project "Egyptian vulture New LIFE" has been able to track their adaptation and migration. Everyone can track the movements of  Zara, Izi and Sofia, and other vultures as well on the project website: www.LifeNeophron.eu

This summer, the other two methods for release of captive-bred Egyptian Vultures - fostering and hacking will be implemented as well.

At the moment, the project team closely monitors the birds' behaviour and their adaptation to the wild:

 - Sofia began to wander and reached Turkey, unfortunately, after she came back to Bulgaria she died due to electrocution near Sliven.

 - Zara managed to reach Greece, but eventually, she got exhausted, so our colleagues from WWF Greece had to capture her and provide first aid. The bird was released again in the area of ​​Dadia, where she has been wandering so far.

 - The adaptation of Izzy is going without any problems. The bird is still in the region of the Eastern Rhodopes.

The activity is being carried out under the LIFE project "Egyptian Vulture New LIFE", which brings together institutions and organizations from 14 countries spanning the Balkans, Middle East, and Africa.

Special thаnks to Sofia Zoo for the donation of one of the released birds (Sofia) to the Egyptian vulture New LIFE project and their support!