SmartBirds
Photo: © Bogdan Boev
A male Cinereous Vulture released in the Eastern Rhodopes this spring was found dead following an electrocution incident. On the evening of 4 December, experts from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) received alarming signals from the transmitter attached to the bird—indicating lack of movement and an unusual body position.
According to the data, the incident occurred around midday on 4 December, when the vulture attempted to land on a pole of the electricity distribution network. Reduced visibility caused by local weather conditions may have contributed to the fatal accident.
As part of the species restoration initiative, a total of 40 birds have been released in the Eastern Rhodopes so far. The vulture was three years old and was released in April this year together with five other birds of this rare species.
Only two days after this incident, during monitoring at one of the supplementary feeding sites in the region, a BSPB team discovered a young Griffon Vulture, also electrocuted on an uninsulated power line in a neighbouring area. Remains of a raven were also found at the same location. This power line had already been surveyed in 2017, when two dead Ravens and one Hooded crow were recorded at the same spot.
Electrocution is one of the main threats to many rare and endangered bird species in Bulgaria. Thousands of poles have already been insulated by Elektrorazpredelenie Yug EAD in cooperation with BSPB, but the problem is still far from solved. In July 2025 a new international LIFE project, “Reduction of mortality risk on globally endangered birds through retrofitting of hazardous overhead power lines in South-eastern Europe,” coordinated by Elektrorazpredelenie Yug, was launched. Within its framework, an additional 8,700 dangerous poles in Southeastern Bulgaria will be insulated, including in the Natura 2000 sites of the Eastern Rhodopes.
Тhe reintroduction activities are part of the LIFE project “Restoration of the Cinereous vulture population and trophic chain in the Bulgarian-Greek cross-border region“, implemented on the Bulgarian side by the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds in collaboration with Rewilding Rhodopes Foundation. The project (No. 101148254 — LIFE23-NAT-BG-LIFE Rhodope Vulture) is co-financed by the European Union’s LIFE program and Rewilding Europe.
