The most popular vulture conservation stories of 2018

Over the course of 2018 we’ve seen some brilliant work done to help conserve vultures in Europe, the release of 13 Bearded Vultures in Spain, France, Switzerland and Austria, Egyptian vulture population surveys in the Balkans, restocking the Griffon Vulture population on Sardinia and the historic reintroduction of Cinereous Vultures in Bulgaria, these are just some examples of the amazing efforts going on right across Europe.

There was of course some tragedy over the last 12 months such as the re-emergence of the threat of poison in France’s Parc Naturel Régional des Grands Causses or the recent illegal shooting of Griffon Vulture Perun in Montenegro.

Despite setbacks such as these, our work and the work of countless other organisations and individuals has seen real results for in the efforts to  conserve and protect vultures in Europe.

Much of that work we have covered on our blog, a space to share work on vulture conservation, so we thought we would look back on 2018 and share some of the most popular stories on the blog:

1. The publication of our study into the use of poison in the Balkans estimating over 2,300 vultures have been poisoned over the last 20 years

2. The launch of our public fundraising campaign Bearded Vultures on the Move

3. The amazing wanderings of Griffon Vulture F75

4. The historic reintroduction of Cinereous Vultures in Bulgaria since the species was declared extinct in the 1980s as part of the Vultures Back to LIFE project

5 .The publication of research that illustrated the impact on vulture foraging behaviour in Spain and Portugal as a result of the different management techniques in disposing of livestock carcasses  

6. The tragic killing of captive-bred Egyptian Vultures Clara and Bianca on their first migration since being released into the wild in Italy

7. The first sighting in 100 years of a Bearded Vulture in Portugal 

8. The incredible story of Bearded Vulture who became the first vulture to have an artifical limb

9. The landmark approval of the Bearded and Cinereous Vultures’ Species Action Plans by the European Union as part of the LIFE EuroSAP project

10. The death of charismatic white Bearded Vulture Palanfré and the causes behind her death

There is lots to look forward over 2019 we’ll share the latest news here on our blog but also on our Twitter and Facebook accounts.