![\"\"](\"http:\/\/4vultures.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-09-105931-1024x555.png\")
A\u00efnat\u2019s long road to reproduction <\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A\u00efnat was taken from a Pyrenean nest in 2008 as part of a programme to rescue second chicks from wild nests to avoid cainism. He was adopted and raised in Vallcalent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a founder, his Pyrenean heritage is significant to the Bearded Vulture EEP network. As most birds within the EEP come from Asia, genes from different populations are needed to avoid inbreeding between the birds held captive and those released into the wild. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years, A\u00efnat had several complex and intense partnerships. Initially, he was paired with Greca, a female he grew up alongside. Their juvenile companionship offered hope, but Greca never accepted A\u00efnat as a mate. After several years of failed courtship and eventual aggression\u2014including a confusing and violent episode after Greca took a bath\u2014this pair was dissolved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sombra: The unlikely match <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
After Greca, came Sombra (BG398). Sombra was A\u00efnat\u2019s unlikely and unforgettable partner. Sombra was a hand-reared and imprinted female, hatched in 2002 at the Zoo of Almaty in Kazakhstan. Before arriving at Vallcalent in 2019, she had spent years at different locations, including two private breeders, and little was known about her behaviour or socialisation with other vultures. Imprinted birds\u2014those raised closely by humans\u2014often struggle with natural behaviours, particularly breeding and pairing. Female imprinted Bearded Vultures are also known to be highly dominant and occasionally aggressive toward both humans and mates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When she first met A\u00efnat, it was far from love at first sight. The two birds took turns chasing and pecking at each other. But after careful reintroductions, something changed. Sombra began to tolerate A\u00efnat. Then came mutual preening, shared nest duties, and\u2014finally\u2014successful mating after the team installed logs above the perches to help A\u00efnat who had problems understanding how the mating process works. He really didn\u2019t know how to copulate, which was a bid headache for the team. But in the end, after some help, he finally learned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The pair managed to produce one chick, but heartbreak soon followed. Sombra passed away and then, soon later, their chick also died. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After all the challenges and heartbreak, a new chapter began in 2023 when Perea, an adult female from the Guadalent\u00edn breeding centre, arrived at Vallcalent. Hatched in 2009 at Sch\u00f6nbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Perea carries a strong genetic heritage\u2014her father was wild-hatched in Tajikistan in 1988. Perea had previously been paired twice: once unsuccessfully with Montero, and later with the injured but once-prolific male Cab\u00fas. That second pairing yielded one chick, Donna Elvira, released in Melchsee-Frutt, Switzerland. After Cab\u00fas became unable to copulate due to an accident, Perea too became available for a new pairing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Ai\u0308nat](\"http:\/\/4vultures.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/AinatSombra2-start-of-bearded-vulture-breeding-season.jpg\")
Perea arrives: A fresh start <\/h2>\n\n\n\n