130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

from April to September. Similar movements also
happen in the Croatian (and Balkan) population,
with about 100–150 birds summering in the Alpine
area of northeastern Italy, Austria and Slovenia [4] .
Distribution in Europe
The Griffon vulture has an extremely large range,
extending over Europe, the Middle East and North
Africa. It occurs from India, west to Portugal and
Spain, including some island populations in the
Mediterranean (Crete, Naxos, Cyprus and recently
established in Mallorca) [5] . It also occurs in Turkey,
the Crimea (Ukraine) and the Caucasus, and then
from there to the Middle East and into Central Asia.
In North Africa it is probably extinct as a breeding
species [6] , even though it occurs in large numbers
during migration in Morocco [7] .
Habitat preferences
Griffon vultures are most common in countries
bordering the Mediterranean and usually occur
at low densities. They breed in colonies in cliffs,
at sites that are undisturbed by humans, and that
are within a few dozen kilometres to open areas
with good availability of dead animals [8–10] . Griffon
vultures roost and rest on large cliffs and soar
over surrounding open countryside in search of
food, but they avoid woodlands. They forage over
a wide range of habitats, mainly over hills with
low vegetation and rocky escarpments, usually
at moderate altitudes (200–2,500 m), but also
over lower areas, including river deltas, provided
there are large numbers of grazing animals and
cliffs. Satellite telemetry has revealed that Griffon
vultures fly, on average, at 300m above ground, but
can reach heights of 2,500 m [11] .
Legal Protection and conservation status
The Griffon vulture is listed on Annex I of the EU
Birds Directive, Annex II of the Bern Convention,
Annex II of the Convention on Migratory Species,
and Appendix II of CITES [12] .
Abundance:
current status and changes
There are approximately 27,000–28,000 breeding
pairs of Griffon vulture in Europe (Table 2). The
largest numbers of Griffon vultures are found in
Spain, which holds 90% of the European population
and where the population has been increasing.
There are also significant populations in France,
Portugal, Croatia and Greece (Table 2). The number
of Griffon vulture breeding pairs has increased
substantially in most of the species’ European
range, including in the Iberian Peninsula, in France
No. of breeding pairs
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
(from 75 pairs in 1999 to 1,443 pairs in 2012), and in
some countries in Eastern Europe (Croatia, Serbia,
Bulgaria). However, populations are declining
in continental Greece and in Cyprus. Small,
decreasing or fluctuating populations are also
reported from Macedonia and Ukraine, while the
species has disappeared from Albania, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Montenegro and Romania [16] .
Distribution:
current status and changes
The Griffon vulture has a patchy distribution in
most parts of its range. The population in the
western European portion of the range (Iberian
Peninsula and France) has increased greatly
during the last three decades, but in some areas in
southeastern Europe populations the range is still
shrinking and populations have recently become
extinct [16] .
In the past it reached the southwest of Germany
(up to the end of the Middle Ages), south Poland
(up to the early 19th century), and more recently it
occurred in Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, and south
Figure 1.
Estimated number
of Griffon vulture
breeding pairs in
Europe.
Table 2.
Latest population
estimates of
Griffon vulture
in each European
country, according
to the latest Balkan
Vulture Action
Plan summary [17]
and recent data,
indicating those
countries holding
more than 1% of the
European population.
Country No. of breeding pairs Year Trend %
Austria ? ?
Bulgaria 67 [18] 2013 +
Croatia 141 [19] 2013 +
Cyprus 2 [20] 2013 -
France 1,443 [21] 2012 + 5
Greece 270 19 2012 - 1
Italy 92 [22] 2012 +
FYRO Macedonia 16 [17] 2012 -
Portugal 197–361 [23] 2008 + 1
Serbia 130 [17] 2012 +
Spain 24,609–25,541 [24] 2008 + 91
Ukraine 23–25 [25] 2008 +
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
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