An young Egyptian vulture arrived from Vienna to be released into the wild nature of Bulgaria

Photo: © Green Balkans

A few days ago, an young Egyptian vulture arrived from Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna, and will get a chance to live in the Eastern Rhodopes this spring. The transport of the bird lasted almost 24 hours. Upon arrival, the vulture was immediately  examined by the veterinarians of the Green Balkans Wildlife Rescue Center in Stara Zagora, who determined that the bird was in excellent health.

After a short stay at the Green Balkans Rescue Center, the Egyptian vulture will transported and entrusted to the care of the BSPB experts to the adaptation aviary located in the heart of the Eastern Rhodopes, so called the “vulture school”. The bird will stay there for two months, during which the vulture will be under constant observation and care while it is getting used to the climate and the area. After this period, it will be released into the wild at the beginning of June.

This Egyptian vulture will become part of the program to protect the species in the Balkan Peninsula by releasing into the wild birds bred in captivity in European zoos. It will be released through the “delayed release” method, by which 19 others Egyptian vultures hatched in various zoos and breeding centers in Europe have been released in the Eastern Rhodopes over the past 5 years. It is important to recall that in the last year two of the freed birds, Boyana and Izzy, found partners and formed pairs, but unfortunately, in the fall, Boyana was killed by poachers.

The Egyptian vulture Restocking program is coordinated by the BSPB, implemented in cooperation with the Green Balkans Wildlife Rescue Center and with the support of the European Endangered Species Program (EEP) with coordinator Mr Antonin Weidl.

The restocking programme is carried out under the “ From Iron Curtain to Green Belt “ project,  funded by the Endangered Landscapes Programme (ELP) that is managed by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative – a collaboration between the Chancellor Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge of The Old Schools and leading internationally-focused biodiversity conservation organisations. The University and the ELP are supported by Arcadia – a charitable fund of Peter Baldwin and Lisbet Rausing.