The cinereous vulture is a rare passage migrant and/or winter visitor in the Middle East, and does not breed there – birds wintering or passing through the region come from breeding populations in Turkey-Iran-Caucasus.
This past winter a juvenile cinereous vulture was found exhausted near the Dead Sea by a farmer, and brought to the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) – Jordan. After a recovery period in the Almawa’ wildlife rehabilitation facility, the vulture was successfully released in Dana Nature Reserve last January (see video, in arabic). Unfortunately, three weeks later it was recaptured close to the Saudi border at al-Mudawwarah. Now it is back in the rehabilitation facilities and will be released again in autumn.
The VCF would like to thank the staff from the RSCN for the attention and care given to this bird. The Middle East is often regarded as a death trap for many migratory birds, and so it is important to value and support the conservation heroes working there. Thank you RSCN, and we hope this vulture can recover again.
