The Egyptian vulture is the most threatened bird species in Greece with a risk of disappearing from the country. Thrace hosts the last five breeding pairs of the species in Greece. Although the population is small, it appears to have remained stable in recent years. That is why every new pair count giving an important source of hope for the future of the species.
And this year, we had exactly such a reason.
A new, sixth pair settled in the Avantas–Kirkis area and remained there throughout the whole breeding season, maintaining its own territory. Although the pair did not yet manage to breed, its presence is a particularly encouraging sign for the future of the Egyptian vulture in the region. In fact, one of the two birds was carrying a transmitter that had been fitted in Bulgaria in 2023 by our partners at the BSPB, when the bird was approximately three years old. What we do not know is whether this particular bird was born on the Greek or Bulgarian side of the Rhodope mountain range. Due to the transmitter, we were able to monitor its movements and collect valuable information about its life and migratory routes.
The news from the five pairs breeding in Thrace is equally encouraging. All five pairs successfully raised chicks, achieving a 100% breeding success rate. In total, eight young Egyptian vultures were raised in nests across Thrace this year, while three of our pairs managed to raise two chicks each.
The young Egyptian vultures now experience the greatest challenge of their lives: their first migration. This journey can take up to a month and cover around 5,000 km before they reach their wintering grounds in Africa. Along the way, they will have to face many different threats and challenges.
This positive news is not the result of luck. It is the result of many years of systematic effort, scientific knowledge, cooperation, and conservation actions implemented by organisations and institutions across the Balkans to protect the Egyptian Vulture.
Every nest, every chick, and every new pair matter. For a species on the brink of extinction in Greece, this news gives us an important reason to continue our efforts with even greater optimism.
The Egyptian vulture monitoring is carried out in the framework of the "Greek Wildlife Alliance" an initiative implemented with the support of WWF in cooperation with 11 Greek environmental NGOs with a common vision of the well-being of wildlife and humans.