The first young bearded vultures were released in the nationalpark Hohe Tauern (Austria) as long ago as 1986, the first year of the alpine bearded vulture reintroduction project. Thirty years later, we are celebrating the fledging of a wildborn bearded vulture from a wild nest in the the Krumltal valley, and the release of two captive-bred birds, Charlie and Lucky, in Hohe Tauern.
Lucky and Charlie are both from the Tierpark Friedrichsfelde in Berlin, Germany and were release on the 24th June in the Untersulzbachtal. Lucky, the young male, got his name from the Austrian Lotteries and the female, Charlie, is sponsored by Four-Paws.
All three youngsters fledged successfully. Kruml 4, the wildborn bird, was the first and flew for the first time on the 5th July. It has already became a good flyer. Charlie flew for the first time on the 7th July and Lucky followed on the 19th July. Also they make good progress in their flight abilities. The national park rangers are still keeping na eye for them, but they seem used to their new home and seem pretty independent (see film below).
The bearded vulture reintroduction project is one of the most spectacular and popular projects of the Nationalpark Hohe Tauern and in the whole Alps. The Krumltal, where Kruml 4 fledged, seems to be a key area – beside the bearded vultures, griffon vultures and golden eagles can also be observed regularly – even a black vulture was seen there recently!
