One of the birds is tagged K5M, an adult Griffon Vulture, which tried to breed in 2016 but failed. The second bird is even more dear to us - it is the vulture Juan, tagged H1, named after our beloved friend and colleagues Juan Jose Sanchez Artez, who sadly passed away in November 2016. The vulture Juan is a juvenile hatched in the Eastern Balkan Mountains in 2016 by K0H and the female K5R, which was tragically electrocuted towards the end of 2016. H1 was tagged as a baby within an exciting ringing campaign in June 2016.
The examination at the Centre revealed that the young Juan is in a relatively good condition, despite being slightly underweight. The adult vulture had an open wound on the leg, which would require a longer period of treatment and rehabilitation before being able to get back into the wild.
We hope that K5M will recover quickly so we can release him as soon as possible as the breeding season of Griffon Vultures will very soon start. Baby Juan will be released in spring, once the weather conditions improve.
Severe winter is often a great challenge for vultures, despite the on-going observations and supplementary feeding. Our permanent presence in the area allows us to find and rescue birds in distress, as each of them counts for the long-term success of the vulture restoration programme.
For more information, please contact:
Elena Stoeva – Project Manager LIFE14 NAT/BG/649,
phone: +359 887574699, е-mail: etilova@greenbalkans.org
