Breeding population of Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus in Serbia slowly increasing

The 2014 griffon vulture population in Serbia totalled between 138 and 144 pairs, of which at least 124 pairs began breeding. A minimum of 89 youngs have fledged, according to data provided to the VCF by the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia.

There are four breeding colonies of griffon vulture, which are located on three sites in southwestern and western Serbia: The Special Nature Reserve Uvac, which covers a large area of the Uvac river gorge and the nearby rivers Kladnica and Veljušnica (two breeding colonies, 85-90 pairs); the gorge of the Trešnjica river (SNR “Trešnjica river gorge”, 25-26 pairs); and the Mileševka river gorge (28 pairs).

The population of griffon vulture in Serbia has been increasing in recent years (see table 1), primarily as a result of the protection measures taken, notably the establishment of feeding places and the protection of breeding sites.

The annual survey and monitoring of griffon vulture breeding colonies in Serbia was conducted by the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, in cooperation with other organizations (“Special Nature Reserve Uvac” – Nova Varoš, NGO-Centre for Natural Resources “Natura” from Belgrade and NGO “Jadovnik – an oasis of pristine nature” from Prijepolje).

Table1: Populationsizeofgriffonvultures (Gypsfulvus) in Serbia during the period 1971-2014, data provided by the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia