89 young griffon vultures on Croatia’s Kvarner archipelago grow feathers

ZAGREB, Sept 6 (Hina) – The Kvarner archipelago, the only habitat for the Griffon Vulture on the eastern Adriatic coast, currently has 125 pairs nested with 89 new fledglings, the Nature pubic authority in Rijeka said on the occasion of International Vulture Awareness Day marked on September 1

This year’s monitoring activities of this strictly protected species revealed that their population on the Kvarner islands is stable and has even slightly increased.

Irena Juric, the head of Nature for Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, which manages the Griffon Vulture Recovery Centre in Beli on the northern Adriatic island of Cres, said that the centre had recently received six young fledglings that would be cared for at the centre until they were strong enough to be placed back in the wild, adding that this spring 10 fledglings saved last year had been released in the wild.

GPS transmitters have revealed that several birds have remained in the Kvarner region while others have migrated to the Pyrenees on the French-Spanish border or south to Albania.

In Croatia, griffon vultures nest only on the Kvarner islands of Cres, Krk, Plavnik, and Prvic. The closest colonies of these birds are in northern Italy and in the Uvac River canyon in Serbia.

At the end of 1969, it was decided to establish the Glavina ornithological reservation on the island of Krk. The reservations were the first of its kind in the world and were dedicated exclusively to protecting the Griffon Vulture.

Together with partner organisations – Zagreb Zoo, BIOM Association, City of Cres, Cres tourist board and Tramuntana association, the Beli centre seeks to raise awareness of the importance of protecting these birds and their way of life. This year an awareness programme is being held at the centre on Saturday and Sunday, September 5 and 6.