Friday, 10.09.2021

Wild breeding pairs: More successful than ever!

The wild breeding pairs have never been so successful! Twenty-one young bearded vultures have fledged this year in Switzerland alone. This is seven more than in the previous record year of 2017. New breeding pairs in the canton of Grisons have also contributed to this success. Tinizong and Martina have succeeded for the first time. 

An increase of 50 young vultures

Another twelve wild broods have succeeded in Italy, nine in France and two in Austria. Thus, the summary for the entire Alpine region shows an increase of 44 wild hatched young vultures. With the six young animals released into the wild (two in Switzerland, two in Germany and two in the French Pre-Alps) this year, 50 bearded vultures have newly joined the Alpine population.

We still have to be patient in Ticino. Although this year for the first time a breeding attempt was registered>>. But unfortunately - as is often the case with still inexperienced breeding pairs -  it has not yet worked out with the rearing of the young. We hope, however, that we can then also report a successful Ticino brood for the first time next year.  

Bearded Vulture Census 2021: Help us!

With this year s offspring, the population of bearded vultures in the Alps has grown significantly. We can therefore assume over 300 animals even after deducting known and suspected mortalities . However, in order to arrive at an estimate of the Bearded Vulture population that is as reliable as possible, we are planning an Alpine-wide Bearded Vulture observation day again this year. For this, we are still looking for volunteers to help us with the observations on October 2, 2021 (further info>>). 

We'll stay tuned

The good growth of the bearded vulture population in recent years gives confidence for the further progress of the reintroduction. Nevertheless, for genetic reasons, further reintroductions remain important (see Annual Report 2018/19, pp. 6-8).

A detailed overview of this year's breeding success and the status of released juveniles can be found here:

 

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