{"id":37485,"date":"2026-10-14T12:26:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T09:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/?p=37485"},"modified":"2026-10-14T12:26:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T09:26:24","slug":"from-gunshot-wounds-to-new-life-egyptian-vultures-successfully-breed-in-prague","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/en\/from-gunshot-wounds-to-new-life-egyptian-vultures-successfully-breed-in-prague\/","title":{"rendered":"From Gunshot Wounds to New Life: Egyptian Vultures Successfully Breed in Prague"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo: Prague Zoo<\/em><\/p>\n

A few years ago, the fate of two Egyptian Vultures, \u00a0Brok and Qalamoon, brought them together with people from different countries who joined forces to give them a second chance. Today, their story has a new chapter: the two birds have formed a pair, and their first chick has hatched at Prague Zoo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The male Egyptian Vulture, named Brok, was discovered in September 2021<\/a> by rangers from the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL<\/a>). He had been illegally kept on a farm alongside two other vultures. Brok and another male, named Loki, had been victims of poaching and had old wing fractures and numerous shotgun pellets embedded in their bodies. Although they had survived life-threatening injuries, the birds remained in captivity. Subsequent veterinary examinations, however, established that the severity of their injuries meant they could not be returned to the wild.<\/p>\n

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Photo: SPNL<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Following extensive efforts by conservationists from several countries, with support from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), the two birds were transported to Prague Zoo in June 2022. Loki was later transferred to France to contribute to the species\u2019 breeding programme there, while Brock remained in Prague.<\/p>\n

The female\u2019s story is no less dramatic. Qalamoon<\/a> was illegally captured in Syria during migration in 2019 or 2020. In 2021, she was discovered at an illegal wildlife-keeping facility and handed over to the authorities thanks to the efforts of the Syrian Society for the Conservation of Wildlife (SSCW) and BirdLife International Middle East.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Prague Zoo<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Qalamoon had suffered a serious wing injury and could not be returned to the wild. Lengthy negotiations and complex international arrangements followed to transport her to Europe and include her in the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP)<\/strong>. Despite all the difficulties, in September 2022 Qalamoon was transported from Syria to Lebanon and then flown via Istanbul to her new home at Prague Zoo. She became the first Egyptian Vulture successfully transported from Syria to Europe and included in the species\u2019 captive-breeding programme.<\/p>\n

Brock and Qalamoon proved to be a compatible pair. After recovering from their injuries, the birds began a new life in Prague<\/a>. This year, the female laid a fertile egg, which was transferred to an incubator. On 12 July, their chick, Kali, a male Egyptian Vulture, hatched.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Prague Zoo<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Because the parents lacked experience, Kali was hand-reared with the help of a puppet resembling the head of an adult Egyptian Vulture. This method helps prevent the chick from becoming habituated to humans.<\/p>\n

Kali will contribute to the future management of the European population of the species. His parents will remain at Prague Zoo, where, under suitable conditions, they may raise more chicks in the years to come.<\/p>\n

With 40 Egyptian Vulture chicks hatched, Prague Zoo is among the most successful breeding centres for this species \u2013 the smallest and most endangered vulture in Europe. Alongside its breeding programme, the zoo has long supported the return of Egyptian Vultures to the wild. In cooperation with BSPB and Green Balkans, 13 Egyptian Vultures bred at Prague Zoo have so far been released in Bulgaria\u2019s Eastern Rhodope Mountains.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The story of Brok and Qalamoon highlights the importance of international cooperation in the conservation of migratory species<\/strong>. Every year, Egyptian Vultures cross Syria and Lebanon on their migration to their wintering grounds, where the poaching of protected species remains a major threat to migratory birds. Saving these two vultures was the result of the work of dozens of people and organisations across several countries \u2013 from locating and confiscating the birds to providing veterinary care and navigating lengthy, complex administrative procedures to transport them successfully to Europe.<\/p>\n

A video telling the story of the birds can be found HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Prague Zoo<\/p><\/div>\n

This cooperation continues today. The new LIFE EV Safe Return project<\/strong>, coordinated by BSPB, builds on years of conservation work for the Egyptian Vulture and places an even greater emphasis on restoring the Balkan population in the wild.<\/p>\n

As part of the project, at least 40 young Egyptian Vultures will be released in Bulgaria and Greece and fitted with GPS\/GSM transmitters<\/strong>. Other activities will focus on reducing poisoning and illegal persecution, making dangerous power lines safer, and engaging local communities. Conservation measures will also cover key locations along the species\u2019 migration route in T\u00fcrkiye and Africa.<\/p>\n

LIFE EV Safe Return <\/em>is coordinated by the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB\/BirdLife Bulgaria)<\/a>, in partnership with Green Balkans<\/a>, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia<\/a>, the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (NECCA)<\/a>, the Society for the Protection of Biodiversity of Thrace (SPBT)<\/a>, the Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS)<\/a>, the Macedonian Ecological Society (MES)<\/a>, Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA)<\/a>, the Albanian Ornithological Society (AOS)<\/a>, DO\u011eA (T\u00fcrkiye)<\/a>, Sahara Conservation (SCF)<\/a>, BirdLife Africa<\/a> and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation<\/a> (NCF). Sofia Zoo<\/a> and Prague Zoo<\/a> are associated partners. The project is co-funded by the European Union\u2019s LIFE Programme.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: Prague Zoo A few years ago, the fate of two Egyptian Vultures, \u00a0Brok and Qalamoon, brought them together with people from different countries who joined forces to give them a second chance. Today, their story has a new chapter: the two birds have formed a pair, and their first chick has hatched at Prague […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":37486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[],"dipi_cpt_category":[],"class_list":["post-37485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37485"},{"taxonomy":"dipi_cpt_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bspb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dipi_cpt_category?post=37485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}