Nine Cinereous vultures were transported to the Kresna Gorge in Bulgaria. The birds were tagged and will be acclimated in the aviary before being released into the wild.
They were donated to our country by the regional governments of Extremadura and Andalusia. The birds come from Spain and have undergone rehabilitation or treatment after being injured for various reasons in the wild. The vultures were fully rehabilitated in various rescue centres and deemed capable of surviving in the wild, after which they were transported to Bulgaria with the assistance of the Spanish NGO AMUS and the Vulture Conservation Foundation.
This is the first shipment of Cinereous vultures within the project “Life for the Bearded Vulture“, which aims to carry out the last stage of the recovery of large vulture species laid down in the Balkan Peninsula Vulture Conservation Action Plan (BVAP), started in 2002.
The first release of Cinereous vultures in the Kresna Gorge area was planned as part of the project “Bright Future for the black vulture” in 2018, but after the tragic poisoning of part of the Griffon vulture colony there, plans were changed.
The activities in Balkan Mountain and Kresna Gorge are carried out under the project LIFE22-NAT-BG-BEARDED VULTURE LIFE-101113869, which is co-financed by the LIFE program of the EU and is a partnership between Green Balkans, Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna, BEPF, NWSFE, NP Sinite Kamani, EVN Bulgaria, VCF, Mivus Group. The Bioparc de Doue and Sainte Croix zoos in France have also provided additional co-financing.
