Almost every day now Alex Llopis, the manager of the bearded vulture captive breeding programme in the VCF, receives news about a new egg laid by our captive birds, that are spread around several specialized captive breeding centres and many zoos. Today it was La Garenne, a wonderful small zoo near Lausanne, in Switzerland, that sent us the good news – the pair there laid an egg on the 16th January, and they made the video above. We are still waiting for several more clutches –the weekend will certainly bring some further good news.
The bearded vulture captive breeding network (organised under an EEP program under EAZA – European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, and managed by the VCF) is a fantastic and rather complex collaborative effort between many people and organisations – and is at the base of the successful reintroduction projects that are restoring the populations of this species across its former range (Alps, Grands Causses, Andalucia and Corsica). As part of this coordination, the VCF provides technical support and targeted coordination to zoos, animal parks, and the specialized captive breeding centres holding bearded vultures, always trying to maximise the establishment of new pairs, improving the husbandry, reducing mortality, and improving breeding productivity.
