The Bearded Vultures Captive Breeding Network (EEP), the Richard Faust Zentrum, and the entire Bearded Vultures community bid farewell to BG107, a beloved breeding female with a strong legacy behind her.
It is with a heavy heart that we announce the death of 37-years-old female Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) BG107. She passed away at the beginning of August 2025, after few months of treatments for a respiratory infection.
The beginning of a long and successful story
BG107 hatched in 1988 in Tierpark Friedrichsfelde (Germany). She was the first chick of a founder couple of Asian bloodlines, a pillar of the Bearded Vulture Captive Breeding Network, coordinated by the VCF on behalf of EAZA’s EEP. In the same year, she was transferred at the Richard Faust Zentrum (Austria) to become part of the EEP like her parents. In 1994, after several failed pairing attempts, she met her long-life partner BG199. He was a wild male, arrived at the centre after losing part of his wing due an injury in the wild. The two became a solid pair rather quickly and their first egg hatched in 1996.
An unusual maternal instinct
BG107 journey as parents was not an easy one. She had the habit of damaging her eggs shortly after laying them, therefore her caretaker had to quickly remove them from the nest every time. According to the EEP protocols, she received a dummy egg to incubate, but she always decisively refused them. After several years failed attempts, her caretaker managed to make her accept a very heavy dummy egg. Despite that, she was never motivated to incubate. BG107 and BG199 produced 47 eggs and 23 of them hatched successfully. Today, 19 vultures across Europe carry the legacy of BG107 and BG199: 12 as part of reintroduction programmes and 7 as breeding individuals within the EEP.
In the EEP, most of the breeding pairs become also foster parents. With this pair, the adoption process needed some adaptations to accommodate BG107 strong personality and preferences. In fact, if presented with hatchlings, she displayed aggressive behaviour that put the chick in danger. But when her caretaker tried to approach her with a few-weeks-old chick, she surprisingly accepted them with enthusiasm. In her lifetime, BG107 was an incredibly caring foster mother for older chicks, adopting 32 young vultures with her mate BG199.
Losing her mate and her final years
In 2022, BG199 died of senility, leaving his mate alone after 28 years together. He was one of the oldest and last remaining founder birds of the Bearded Vulture Captive Breeding Network. After the death of her mate, the RFZ team tried to pair BG107 with a younger male in 2023. Even though they successfully bonded and mated, the egg they produced was infertile.
At the beginning of summer 2025, BG107 showed signs of a respiratory infection. The RFZ team swiftly took care of her, treating the infection and carefully monitoring the bird. During the summer, she had ups and downs. A few days before her passing, she started spending more time on the ground, a sign that her condition was worsening. The team made every effort to make her comfortable in her last days, and on August 10, gave the heartbreaking news to the entire EEP.
A bittersweet farewell
While every life within the Bearded Vulture EEP is cherished, some remarkable individuals leave a permanent mark in our hearts, and BG107 was one of them. Her strong personality and her contribution to Bearded Vultures conservation will be remembered forever.
BG107 passing in August 2025, at the age of 37, was a heartfelt loss for the Bearded Vulture conservation community, and for all who have followed her journey. She lives on in her legacy, both within the EEP and among Bearded Vultures released in reintroduction programmes.
Captive-breeding Bearded Vultures
The Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF) coordinates the Bearded Vulture Captive Breeding Network (EEP) of zoos, specialized breeding centres, recovery centres and private collections on behalf of EAZA. This involves closely working with our colleagues across Europe to ensure the best breeding results from the 180 birds within the Network. Thanks to these captive breeding efforts, since 1978, a total of 585 Bearded Vultures chicks have been produced in captivity, out of which, 343 have been released into the wild to reintroduce or restock the species population across Europe!
