Three Egyptian Vultures were Brought to the Bulgarian Rhodopes

Three young Egyptian vultures, raised in zoos in Zlin, Schonbrunn and Jerez, were released to the Eastern Rhodopes on Thursday, the press office of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds announced.

They spent a little more than two months in a special adaptation aviary (a large bird box where they have the opportunity to fly). Two days ago the birds were tagged with GPS-GSM transmitters from a team of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds and Green Balkans.

Through them the experts will monitor their behavior in nature as well as their adaptation. The three vultures were hatched last year and are part of an experimental work aimed at finding the best bird-removal approach to re-establish the Balkan species.

Vultures are exempted under one of the three approaches adopted for testing under the species recovery program - "delayed release". In this method they are kept for about 8 months after hatching and then accommodated in adaptation aviary in the wild. It is believed that releasing them next season will help them with better adaptation and provide them with enough experience and time to cope with their first migration, which is the most deadly challenge for young Egyptian vultures in the Balkans.

The method was first applied in Bulgaria last spring, when four young birds were released through the same adaptation aviary. Thanks to the broadcasters, the LIFE project "New Hope for the Egyptian Vulture" has the opportunity to track their adaptation and migration. Route information is available to everyone.

This summer, the other two methods of enhancing the species of the Balkans - adoption by wild foster parents and artificial nest (hack) will be implemented again. At the moment, the project team closely...