Bearded Vulture reintroduced to Germany

Bearded Vulture has been reintroduced to Germany after an absence of more than 100 years.

On 10 June, two birds were released in the Bavarian Alps in Germany as part of the ongoing Alpine reintroduction project. Both vultures were part of 10 that hatched in Andalusia at the Bearded Vulture Captive Breeding Centre of Guadalentín, which is managed by the Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF).

One of the young Bearded Vultures ahead of release (VCF).

At the start of June, the two birds left Spain to arrive in Germany in advance to spend some days in quarantine at Nuremberg Zoo. A VCF team was on site to equip identification rings and GPS tags on the birds, as well as mark unique feather patterns to be able to closely monitor them in the wild. 

The birds were released to their new home, a remote cave in the Klausbach Valley in the Berchtesgaden National Park, where a local team will feed the vultures daily, without human contact to avoid imprinting. They will observe their progress to ensure they are adapting well to their new life in the wild.

The new reintroduction site within the Alpine project is important to achieve the geographical expansion of the species towards the east. The inclusion of a fifth Alpine country within the ongoing reintroduction efforts will further boost conservation measures in the region as a whole.