130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

4.15. Cinereous vulture
Aegypius monachus
Summary
Background
Table 1.
Global IUCN Red List
status [6] , European
population and SPEC
status [7] and EU
population status [8]
of Cinereous vulture.
The Cinereous vulture is one of the largest and
most spectacular birds of prey in the world. It
used to occur in great numbers many places in
southern and central Europe, but habitat changes,
poisoning and changes in food availability due to
modern farming techniques caused populations
to decrease and/or disappear (notably from most
of the Balkan peninsula) during the 20 th century.
Although the species’ only remaining foothold in
the Balkans is very fragile, the key population in
Spain is increasing (2,068 breeding pairs in 2012,
an increase of 48% in the last decade), while the
species is also increasing in France, due to a very
successful ongoing reintroduction project. The rate
of increase of the Spanish, but also of the French
and Greek populations, seems to have accelerated
in the last decade, offering good prospects for the
re-colonisation of some part of its former range in
the near future.
Scale Status Justification
Global
Near Threatened
(since 1994)
This species has a moderately small population,
which appears to be suffering an ongoing
decline in its Asian strongholds, despite the
fact that in parts of Europe numbers are now
increasing.
Europe Rare (SPEC 1) Small population size.
EU25
Rare
General description of the species
The Cinereous vulture, or European Black vulture
(Aegypius monachus) breeds in loose colonies. In
Europe, their huge nests are nearly always in trees
(usually evergreen oaks and pines), but in Asia they may
also nest on rocks. With very rare exceptions, clutch
size is one egg [1] . While hatching success is generally
high, many pairs do not breed every year, so the species
has a slow recovery potential. It can live 20–30 years in
the wild and up to 39 years in captivity [2] .
Distribution in Europe
Currently the species has a discontinuous distribution
in Europe, divided between the large
western European populations (Portugal, Spain
and France), and the isolated and fragile nucleus
in Dadia (Greece) and Ukraine. It also occurs in
Turkey and the Caucasus.
Habitat preferences
The species prefers hilly landscapes with Mediterranean
habitats [3, 4] . In Spain, Cinereous vultures occur
mostly in dehesa-type habitats (open, grazed areas with
relatively few large trees, predominantly Holm oaks
(Quercus ilex). Open pine forests around large granite
mountains have also been identified as Cinereous
vulture habitat in Spain and Greece. On Mallorca, the
vultures breed on solitary pine trees growing on sea
cliffs scarcely covered with other vegetation.
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