Vultures play a vital ecological role in our ecosystems, yet they face a range of threats and many species are facing extinction.
The International Vulture Awareness Day is a co-ordinated initiative happening this weekend that aims to publicise the conservation of vultures to a wider audience (see here).
The VCF will be contributing to several of the hundreds of activities planned all over the world. In Italy, for example, at the Riserva Naturale regionale Lago di Cornino, one of the VCF´s advisory board members will be releasing a young griffon born in captivity and giving a presentation about the situation of the Vultures in the Alps – please contact Fulvio genereo at genero@tin.it if you are interested. In Southern Italy the VCF and CERM, in collaboration with the Egyptian vulture captive breeding programme (EEP), will also release four captive-bred Egyptian vultures – contact Guido Ceccolini at guido.ceccolini@gmail.com
In Switzerland, the Natur-und-Tierpark Goldau, one of our long standing partners, will have an information desk about the project to reintroduce bearded vultures in the Alps (coordinated by VCF) – contact Martin Wehrle at info@tierpark.ch.
In Spain, together with AMUS (Acción por el Mundo Salvaje), the VCF will be releasing in two villages in Extremadura region (Hornachos and Oliva de la Frontera) several young griffon vultures recovered at the AMUS wildlife rescue centre. Contact Álvaro Guerrero at aguerrero@amus.org.es.
This weekend please think vultures!