SmartBirds
© Marios Fournaris
Every year, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) marks young and adult Griffon Vultures in the Rhodope Mountains. Thanks to this practice, we’ve been able to follow the incredible journey of one of these birds with the wing tag number 8N.
The young vulture hatched in 2022 near Madzharovo, but after unsuccessful initial attempts at flying in August of the same year, it had to be rescued by our team and rehabilitated by colleagues at the Green Balkans Wildlife Rescue Center in Stara Zagora. After two months of rehabilitation and re-adaptation, 8N was released at one of the feeding stations for vultures in the Eastern Rhodopes.
Unfortunately, just a month later, the bird was found in distress again, this time in Northern Greece. The vulture was captured, rehabilitated, and released by our colleagues there from Aegan Wildlife Hospital Alkioni, but its fate repeated itself. After being housed in a rehabilitation center, experts decided to keep the bird longer and release it on one of the Greek islands with a population of Griffon Vultures. Thus, 8N spent over a year in a rehabilitation center in Southern Greece and was successfully released on February 5, 2024. The bird is equipped with a GPS transmitter and will be tracked daily.
© Marios Fournaris
Hopes are high that the vulture will reach sexual maturity successfully and contribute to the population in Greek territory.
