The bearded vultures, which were once hunted to extinction, are to be reintroduced to the Alps with the help of a large-scale reintroduction program. But the sudden death of one of the first two bearded vultures released in the Bavarian Alps has shocked conservationists and raised questions about the cause of death. Despite this setback, the reintroduction of bearded vultures in the Alps is going well overall.
With a wingspan of up to 2.90 meters, the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is one of the largest flying birds in the world. It is an impressive sight, especially in flight, which used to arouse not only respect but also fear among people in the Alps. Fearing that the bearded vulture could attack livestock, game and even small children, there was a persecution at the beginning of the 20th century that wiped out the bearded vulture in the entire Alpine region. In 1986, a large-scale breeding project started, in which young birds were to be raised and then released into the wild. More than 100 years after its extinction, the resettlement of the largest bird of prey in Central Europe should be made possible throughout the Alps.
Where’s Wally?
As part of this project, two young bearded vultures were released into the wild for the first time in June 2021 in the Berchtesgaden National Park. The two young birds Wally and Bavaria survived the winter, including longer excursions and successful foraging, initially independently and without any problems. But after a last sighting of Wally on April 11, 2022, who at that time appeared completely normal and showed no impairment, the bird of prey disappeared. A final clue to the whereabouts of the female Bearded Vulture was provided by a GPS signal transmitted on April 15 from the Reintal east of the Zugspitze. But the search for Wally was initially unsuccessful, also due to bad weather.
Six weeks later, conservationists from the State Association for the Protection of Birds (LBV) unexpectedly received a brief GPS signal from the young bearded vulture and started a new search campaign. This brought the sad certainty about Wally’s fate: the search party was only able to recover the remains of the bird on a steep rocky slope of the Mauerschartenkopf. “The team went out full of hope, but such a sad result is of course bitter for everyone involved in the project,” says LBV project manager Toni Wegscheider. “All that a mountain guide and a biologist could find in a gully on Wally’s steep terrain were large feathers and bones, the leg ring assigned to Wally, and the GPS transmitter.”
Bearded Vulture’s death was unexpected
The fact that the young bird, which was healthy according to all previous data, perished on the inaccessible slopes of the Reintal nature reserve was considered unlikely by international experts until the very end. Because young bearded vultures usually have a high survival rate after release, it is assumed that nine out of ten young birds in the international release program survive the first year. “But you can’t rule out that something will happen or even predict it. We are now looking for possible causes, although it is still much too early to say anything concrete and we do not want to speculate,” reports National Park Project Manager Ulrich Brendel. An independent specialist body is currently examining the remains of the bearded vulture and may be able to make statements about Wally’s cause of death in the future.
Despite the generally high chances of survival of young bearded vultures, fatalities have been reported in the Alps in recent years. There are a number of natural causes of death such as avalanches or fights with golden eagles. But human influence also plays a role, as the birds of prey collide with cable cars, among other things, or are sometimes hunted illegally. A particularly great danger for the young birds of prey is poisoning with lead from hunting ammunition. Because even small amounts of lead, which are found in unusable game remains left by hunters, are fatal and can cause serious poisoning.
Release is a long-term project
Despite a few deaths, the reintroduction of the bearded vulture to the European Alps has been more successful than almost any other reintroduction program. The conservationists see the strength of the reintroduction project above all in the long-term planning: “Wally’s death confirms that we didn’t plan this project as a sprint, but as a marathon for ten years, and that a one-off successful reintroduction is far from over sufficient,” says LBV chairman Norbert Schäffer. The LBV and the national park will soon release two more young bearded vultures to support the eastern Alpine population, including a younger sister of Wally.
Source: State Association for Bird Protection in Bavaria (LBV) eV