Reintroduction of Bearded Vultures in Europe
Blueprint
ASSESS
The global population of Bearded Vultures has been assessed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 2014, due to evidence they have undergone a moderately rapid population decline over the past three generations. The species almost disappeared completely from Europe, only 70 pairs remained in western Europe by the 1970s. In most European countries where it occurs, it is classified nationally as Endangered or Critically Endangered. Although the species is currently recovering in Europe thanks to reintroduction efforts, vulture populations are increasingly threatened in Africa and Asia where it has been considered regionally endangered for over 50 years.
PLAN
The Bearded Vulture Captive Breeding Network, managed by the Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF), has since evolved to a fully-fledged captive-breeding programme for conservation purposes. It is today part of EAZA’s EEP fold, the only one managed by a conservation organisation, and arguably the one with the most effective results on the ground, as the species has been restored in several locations based on captive-breeding and reintroduction.
During a 1978 meeting of vulture conservationists in Morges, Switzerland, the decision was made to start a reintroduction project based on a captive breeding programme. In 1982, researchers sponsored by WWF, IUCN, and Frankfurt Zoological Society conducted a comparative analysis of habitat of five potential release sites in the Alps (“Vergleich von fünf potentieller Wiedereinbürgerung Gebiete im Alpenraum”), and determined the Hohe Tauern National Park, Austria, was the most suitable. In 1986, the team expanded this study to compile a complete habitat description including food sources, assess societal attitudes towards the species, and evaluate regional protection status.
ACT
After the 1978 meeting, with the help of a grant from the Frankfurt Zoological Society, some 30 Bearded Vultures in captivity in several European zoos were purchased, and entrusted to a newly-formed international foundation, the Foundation for the Conservation of the Bearded Vulture (today's VCF), to start a captive breeding programme.. The first wild release of Bearded Vultures, reared in human care, followed in the 1980’s at Hohe Tauern. The Bearded Vulture captive breeding plan aims to produce as many chicks for reintroduction as possible, and thus has been enhancing the breeding success within the captive population while preserving high genetic diversity of the ex situ reserve. Breeding Bearded Vultures is a challenging process as it takes five to seven years for birds to reach maturity, breeding typically begins at eight years old, and only one chick is produced per year. Conservation programme managers have worked to develop partnerships, husbandry protocols, and techniques that led to an increase in breeding success and generate enough offspring for release. Annually, the programme considers the genetic and demographic status of all programme birds and issues individual breeding and release recommendations. Rigorous preparation and threat mitigation measures were also honed for the field component (e.g., specific hacking techniques). All release efforts are helping to build a free-living, in situ population in its former range, independent of humans.
Results
Between 1978 and 2020, 585 juveniles were successfully reared in captivity and reintroduced across Europe in the Alps, Grand Causses Regional Park, Mediterranean, and Spain. In 2019, a record was set with the programme providing 22 birds to all 4 ongoing reintroduction areas. To date, the survival rate of released Bearded Vultures with the current methods is between 88% and 96%. As a result of these reintroductions, there is now a healthy and growing breeding population in the Alps (+60 pairs) and Andalusia (55 pairs). Breeding in the Grands Causses is expected to start shortly.
The VCF continues to coordinate the programme and release Bearded Vultures. Reintroduction increases the genetic diversity between areas and promotes expansion of the species east. The team states that species recovery is a marathon, not a sprint. Thanks to this coalition of partners, breeding chicks in captivity and releasing them into the wild, the Bearded Vulture is making a steady recovery in Europe. The aim is to create a European metapopulation of Bearded Vultures, creating gene flow between the existing isolated indigenous populations in Europe (in the Pyrenees, Corsica, and Crete), with the reintroduced ones (Alps and Andalusia), and with populations in Asia and North Africa.
Visual & Audio References
© Vulture Conservation Foundation
Collaborations
Major
Partners
Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF)
European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA)
LPO
Stiftung Pro Bartgeier
Andalusia Government
Additional
Contributors
Parco Natura Viva; ZooParc de Beauval; Helsinki Zoo; Zoo Frankfurt; Tierpark Berlin-Friedrichsfelde; Berlin Zoo; Nurnberg Zoo; Barcelona Zoo; Ostrava Zoo; Alpenzoo Innsbruck; Liberec Zoo; Naturschutz – Tierpark Gorlitz; Vienna Zoo; Parc animalier des Pyrénées; Académie de Fauconnerie du Puy du Fou; Amnéville Zoo; Parc des Oiseaux
Donors
European Union LIFE NGO; Natura2000
Additional Resources
Content Updated as of 9/4/2020