The largest European vulture, with a wingspan reaching three metres, is making a comeback.
The cinereous vulture, also known as the Eurasian black vulture, underwent a dramatic decline in this continent, but thanks to the increase of the Spanish population the species is also recovering in other parts of Europe, from Portugal to France and Bulgaria, explains the Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF).
They note that the sight of one of the heaviest and largest raptors in the world soaring in the skies is one that became rare in the 20th century as a result of a combination of illegal wildlife poisoning and reduction in the availability of food.
“Cinereous vultures are particularly sensitive to human disturbance, especially during the breeding season and the destruction and changes of habitat had a significant impact on populations in Europe,” they state on their website.
The species became extinct in many countries across its range leaving the remaining population split in two, a western population based on the Iberian Peninsula and a small eastern population in Greece.
From a historic low point the population has been steadily recovering since the 1980s and a 2018 survey of the European populations shows an increasing trend in the number of breeding pairs, notes the VCF. Measures to protect wildlife from poisoning have resulted in a rapid recovery in the western population, they explain.
And one of the areas where the black vulture is thriving is the region of Madrid. A spokesperson for the regional environment department noted that the number of pairs went up from 104 in 2012 to reach 250 in 2024.
Department experts explain that the increase has been achieved by providing extra food for the vultures, ‘watching out for possible threats’ to the birds and ‘above all recovering chicks which have fallen out of nests’.
Young birds discovered by forest rangers are taken to the regional wild animal recovery centre. After rehabilitation they are released in the mountainous north of the region, in and around the Sierra de Guadarrama national park (see photos).
The spokesperson noted that while the more common griffon vulture lives in rocky areas, the black vulture prefers pine forests which are far from human presence. Like most other vultures, they are monogamous; couples build huge nests in trees and on cliffs that are reused each year.
They have a specialised type of haemoglobin in their blood, allowing them to effectively absorb oxygen even at great heights as they search for carcasses, explains the VCF.
It is thanks to the efforts of many different projects that the numbers are slowly increasing, especially in Spain, where the population is now more than 2,000 pairs, states the VCF.
Photos: Comunidad de Madrid
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