130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Figure 2.
Current distribution
of Griffon vulture in
Europe and historical
distribution in the
1850s, and 1950s [26] .
Table 2.
Major threats that
drove the Griffon
vulture decline and
may still constrain
the population [16] .
of the Urals. Today it occurs in Portugal, Spain,
France, Italy, and down the Balkans to Greece.
In the last few years, Griffon vultures have recolonised
Mallorca, as a group that appeared on the
island in 2008 is now resident and breeding well [27] .
Major threats
The main threats to Griffon vulture populations
are similar throughout their range [28] . The principal
threats are poisoning, lack of food, and mortality
due to collision with wind turbines and electrocution
from powerlines [29–31] . Poisoning is the most
Threat Description Impact
Unintentional
effects of hunting
and collecting
Poisoning from consumption of poison baits
used against predators, or of carcasses with
contaminated with lead from shot.
Critical
Pollution from
agriculture
Livestock farming
and ranching
Renewable
energy
Transportation
and service
corridors
Human intrusions
and disturbance
Persecution
Poisoning from consumption of carcasses with
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Less carrion disposal because of modernisation of
agriculture and the new EU sanitary regulations.
Mortality by collision with wind turbines.
Collision with and electrocution by overhead
power lines.
Human disturbance near breeding sites.
Intentional shooting and egg robbing for
collections.
Critical
High
High
Low
Low
important threat affecting all vulture species in
Europe. Food abundance is considered a critical
factor in the population dynamics of vultures [32–35]
and availability of food is driven by EU sanitary
regulations on carcass disposal, as well as by
changes in land-use that influence the number of
domestic ungulate populations and thus the availability
of carcasses [36–40] . More locally, disturbance
to Griffon vulture nesting cliffs and direct persecution,
through shooting and egg robbing, can be
important [41] .
These threats caused a widespread decline in
Griffon vulture numbers between the end of the
19th century and beginning of 20th century, and
resulted in its extinction in some areas such as the
French Alps and the Carpathians [42] .
Drivers of recovery
European populations of the Griffon vulture have
increased in recent decades thanks to a number
of conservation measures. These include a ban
on poisoning carcasses, established in the 1970s.
The relaxation of laws that prohibited farmers
from leaving dead animals on their farmland,
the creation of feeding stations, and a number
of reintroduction projects [44] contributed to the
successful recovery and increase of the populations
in Europe.
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