The Bearded Vulture release season is now officially over, with the last release taking place exactly one week ago on 31 July, quite later than usual. This is because a young Bearded Vulture that broke her wing and leg could not be released as planned alongside the other four Bearded Vultures released in the Grands Causses during mid-June. The vulture, named Aven, hatched at the Green Balkans' Wildlife Rehabilitation and Breeding Centre and after about a month and a half of treatment there, she made a recovery and was finally ready for freedom. As she was much older compared to the typical release age and recently recovered from an injury, the LIFE GypConnect team in the Grands Causses took extra measures to ensure her safety and is keeping a very close eye on her to see how she is adapting to her new home.

Rehabilitated captive-bred Bearded Vulture marks the last release for 2020

This breeding season presented many more challenges than usual due to the pandemic, but together with our partners we tackled them and managed to have yet another good Bearded Vulture captive breeding season. In brief, 41 laying pairs produced 71 eggs from which a minimum of 52 eggs were fertile. In total, 38 chicks hatched and 25 survived. Out of these chicks, together with our partners, we released 21 across six different regions in Spain, France and the Alps.

Let's hope these young Bearded Vultures will have a successful adaptation to the wild and a bright future ahead! Keep following our work to learn about their adventures.

The scavenging lifestyle of vultures that is often what gives them a bad reputation is what makes them so important! From helping reduce CO2 emissions associated with carcass disposal to providing cultural and spiritual services dating back thousands of years, vultures provide significant ecosystem services that benefit the environment, wildlife and society as a whole. 

Ecosystem service provision – what do vultures do for us and the environment?