The European captive breeding program (EEP) for the Eurasian black vulture registered good results also this year. Zoos and animal parks in the Eurasian black vulture EEP network try to breed the species in captivity to provide the chicks to reintroduction projects. One young bird from Pairi Daiza, Cambron, Belgium was thus released last September, close to the Grand Canyon of Verdon in France, where a reintroduction project with this species is ongoing, led by the League pour la Protection des Oiseaux (LPO PACA Verdon). You can read the news in French here>> and here>>
Bernardus, a young female, was equiped with a GPS transmitter (see pictures), and we have been following her journey since. Bernardus first started to explore the surroundings around the release site, and after 3 weeks she flew to Baronnies where another black vulture re-introduction project takes place. Her next stop was then the Massif Central, where she staid until the beginning of November. She then flew onwards to the Spanish Pyrenees, where she is now, just north of Lleida. You can follow her next movements here>>
The VCF has been involved with the reintroduction of black vultures in France, mostly by facilitating the transfer of birds from Spain (wild origin, but coming via rehabilitation centres after they are picked up injured or exhausted), in collaboration with regional administrations in Spain and the French NGOs associated with the reintroduction sites. There are now at least 35 pairs of black vultures breeding in France, in three different nuclei, and soon this reintroduction project will wrap up.
