Vultures doing well in Spain.

[Rachel]

I saw on the vulture conservation website that there has been really positive news for vulture populations in Europe and indeed Spain this year. And it’s great to hear that Ruppells vulture is now considered a European species due to it moving into Spain!!!!

New report on vulture population estimates in Europe is now available

European vulture species are now five!
For the first time, we have decided this year to add officially the Rüppell’s vulture as the fifth European vulture species in our global population assessments. This follows several records of mixed breeding attempts involving Rüppell and Griffon Vultures in Southern Spain.

The fact that populations of this Critically Endangered vulture have been declining steeply in Africa while expanding their range to Southern Europe is extremely interesting and calls for further monitoring and research.

There is also some great information on this year’s migration of Egyptian vultures…. https://4vultures.org/blog/the-egyptian-vulture-autumn-migration-resumes/

[clive Grazalema]

And it seems that Spains vultures are doing so well that quite a few have been sent to Sardinia for the repopulation project there…. 🙂 https://4vultures.org/blog/griffon-vulture-restocking-in-sardinia-how-an-international-collaboration-helps-reinforce-the-local-population/

Wild vultures coming from Spain the best option for restocking
Spain is the perfect country to support vulture restocking actions. Thanks to conservation efforts, Griffon Vultures have significantly recovered in numbers in Spain with 30,000 pairs, which allows for wild birds to be transferred to other European countries. Young birds found in distress, suffering from malnutrition and weakness are often recovered to full health in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centres. For this project, the Spanish regional autonomous governments Junta de Extremadura donated birds, and with the help of the wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centres such as Los Hornos and AMUS supporting rehabilitation efforts and technical procedures, the VCF arranged the transport of 67 birds that travelled over 2,000 km by land and ferries to reach Sardinia. Upon arrival, the vultures fall under the care of local partners. They first perform another health check and then transfer them to an acclimatisation aviary where they spent several months adapting to their new home, getting ready for their eventual release into the wild.

---

Take a trip on the Wildside!

https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)

https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)

[SteveT Yatton]

Really great to see this – 30,000! In Spain this year I managed to go to my two favourite places for vultures: Montfrague and Las Hoces del Duraton.  Both are amazing settings. At Las Hoces del Duraton you could hear the young on their nests on the ledges.

I was in Casares near Estepona for a while and visited the vulture restaurant there. There were lots of bones and skin. Does anyone know how important these are? Or how regularly carcasses are left out? Casares town itself is an amazing place to see griffons!

Wanted to get to Grazalema  but it didn’t work out…… its a great place too for vultures!

 

[Rachel]

The Junta de Andalucia has a list of “comederos on their pretty awful website….. : https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/portal/landing-page-%C3%ADndice/-/asset_publisher/zX2ouZa4r1Rf/content/red-andaluza-de-comederos-de-aves-carro-c3-b1eras-racac-/20151

They were created back when EU law made it illegal for farmers to dump their dead livestock after the BSE event… Populations of carrion eaters suffered quite a lot before someone noticed and had the idea of the vulture restaurants.

This solution helped but I think it also conditioned them to stay in that locality rather than roaming for food….

[Author]

Posts