A total of 31 Griffon vultures travelled last June 3000 km by car from Spain to Bulgaria.
The animals came from the Spanish animal rescue stations Extremadura, Castilla y Leòn and the Zoo of Jerez and are determined to resettle in selected protected areas in the Bulgarian Balkan Mountains, with the aim of establishing new colonies in the National Park Central Balkan, in the nature parks of Vrachanski Balkan and Sinet Kamani as also of the strictly protected nature reserve Kotlenska. The release sites have been prepared over several years by the Frankfurt Zoological Society (Zoologische Gesellschaft Frankfurt, ZGF). It was already the second transfer to Bulgaria: Already in March 2009 a number of 18 animals were transported to Bulgaria. The birds are housed now in acclimation aviaries where they can adapt to local environments and are released later in the territories. In this way, in the next five years around 150 to 200 Griffon vultures will be released into the wild.
The main objective of the project is the reintroduction of the griffon vultures in the existing protected areas, and the connection of this population with colonies in Serbia, Croatia and on the Crimean peninsula. The release campaign is funded by the Frankfurt Zoological Society, the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU and the EU within a LIFE+ project.
www.zgf.de
