Cyprus releases endangered vultures to boost population

Conservationists in Cyprus released griffon vultures into the wild on Friday in the latest attempt to boost a critically endangered population of the scavenger birds.

Once thriving, the number of vultures on the east Mediterranean island is the smallest in Europe as accidental poisoning and changing farming techniques have left them short of food.

Fourteen vultures from Spain were released into hills north of the city of Limassol on Friday, bringing the vulture population to “about” 29.

Project co-ordinators BirdLife, the island's Game Service, the Vulture Conservation Foundation and Terra Cypria released 15 griffons into the wild last year. Of those 11 have survived.

Conservationists have in the past made several attempts to boost the vulture population, including importing birds from Crete. Surveys have shown that without timely intervention to address the causes of vulture deaths the birds could become extinct on the island within 15 years, the organisations said.

“Losing a vulture is frequent, and that is something that is particularly worrying,” conservationists said.

Considered a natural garbage disposal unit, vultures feed off animal carcasses, which is an effective way to prevent the spread of disease.

They can die if they feed off a carcass which had been poisoned. The fox, considered a threat by some farmers to livestock, is frequently targeted. The use of poisonous baits in Cyprus is illegal but does occur.

A number of the birds were fitted with satellite trackers a day before their release on Thursday to monitor their movements.

All vultures released in the past year were donated by the Extremadura region of Spain, which hosts 90% to 95% of Europe's vulture population. Another 15 vultures will arrive and be released next year.

Reuters