Boosting a population of griffon vultures in Bulgaria

The griffon vulture, one of Europe's largest birds of prey, had virtually disappeared from its breeding area in the mountains of Bulgaria. The Parc zoologique de Paris has 9 griffon vultures in the Europe biozone and is actively involved in their conservation and reintroduction into the wild. 

Since 2017, it has been supporting the European "LIFE" project run by the Fund for Wildlife Flora and Fauna (FWFF) in Bulgaria, which has been releasing vultures (griffon, black vultures, etc.) into the Bulgarian sky for 13 years.

In 2021, the first young griffon vulture born at the Park travelled to Bulgaria, along with other vultures born in European zoos. In 2023, two other individuals born at the zoo followed the same route. They spent several months in "pre-release" aviaries to familiarise themselves with their new ecosystem and were then released. In 2024, the reintroduction of the last young bird, born in 2023, is planned.

The success of the project can be assessed over the long term, by analysing the birds' movements, feeding and nesting areas. To this end, 10 GPS tags attached to the backs of the vultures enable their movements to be monitored on a daily basis. These beacons, financed by the Paris Zoological Park in part through sponsorship, weigh less than 70g (i.e. less than 0.7% of the bird's weight) and incorporate a solar panel to supply energy for more than a year to a GPS transmitter that plots the bird's longitude, latitude and altitude several times a day. The data is sent to a server for real-time tracking. Analysis of the data helps us to learn more about these birds of prey, and thus to improve conservation and reintroduction programmes.