infoGIPETO n.37 |dicembre 2020

MONITORING
MONITORAGGIO
UPDATE ON THE ALPINE BEARDED VULTURE
POPULATION AND THE INTERNATIONAL
BEARDED VULTURE MONITORING
Mirco Lauper
International Bearded Vulture Monitoring (CH) – E-mail: ibm@gyp-monitoring.com
Despite difficult circumstances during the Covid-19 pandemic, a successful 2020 reintroduction
season was carried out. Thanks to the international cooperation of the IBM partners and the European
Endangered Species Program (EEP), it was possible to release 22 bearded vultures in
France, Spain and Switzerland. With 36 successful fledges out of 52 breeding pairs, the breeding
success is 69% and, despite fewer successful broods than last year, this year’s productivity (68%)
is above the average of the last ten years (63%), for the Alps. For two breeding pairs, one in the
North of Mercantour National Park (FR) and one in the Bernese Alps (CH), it was the first successful
reproduction. While successful breeding was reported from one of the two breeding pairs
in Corsica (Bonifatu), no breeding has been reported from the Massif Central. The high number
of 6 dropouts (mortality, recapture) among 22 released birds (27%), indicates the risks to which
bearded vultures are exposed. Understanding these threats is an important prerequisite for the
success of the reintroduction project. The IBM network and, especially, GPS telemetry have proven
to be key factors in identifying problems early, communicating across boundaries and intervening
when necessary. Thus, in 3 out of 10 dropout cases, it was possible to save birds from problematic
situations. By working with two new IBM partners, it will be possible to expand the monitoring area
and reach more local stakeholders.
IBM-Network
The International Bearded vulture Monitoring (IBM) is an international network to coordinate the
monitoring activities for European bearded vulture populations, to unify and manage data collections
in a shared database (IBM-database) and to discuss conservation strategies and priorities
for this species on an international level. In 2020, the IBM comprised 19 partners and 2 associated
organisations. With two new partners, Aussenstelle Projektmanagement Zentrum Naturerlebnis
Alpin ‘ZNAlp’ in southern Germany and ‘Gran Paradiso National Park’ in Aosta Valley (IT), the
European monitoring network is expanding.
Figure 1 - The releases programme carried out by the VCF has the long-term goal to restore a
European meta-population, characterized by genetic exchange with the North African and Eastern
European/Asian populations. Il programma di rilasci condotto dalla VCF si pone come obiettivo di
creare una meta-popolazione europea di gipeti, caratterizzata da scambi genetici con le popolazioni
del Nord Africa, dell’Europa orientale e dell’Asia.
Releases
Despite the pandemic, this year it
was possible to release 22 bearded
vultures (Figure 1). The European Endangered
species Program (EEP) has
indeed proven that it can benefit from
its long-time experience and from the
great cooperation and coordination of
breeding centres and IBM partners.
With the long-term aim of re-establishing
a European bearded vulture
meta-population, the Vulture Conservation
Foundation (VCF) pursues a
far-sighted strategy, with selected releases
in 2020: (A) release of 2 birds in
Melchsee-Frutt (CH), to strengthen the
existing local populations by increasing
genetic diversity; (B) release of 2 birds
in Vercors (FR), 2 in Baronnies (FR),
as well as 9 in Andalusia (ES) in areas
where breeding territories have not
been established in large numbers; (C)
releases of 5 birds in the Massif Central
(FR) and 2 juveniles in Maestrazgo
(ES), to restore the genetic exchange
between the three separated bearded
vulture populations in the Alps, the
Pyrenees and Andalusia, by enforcing
so called “stepping-stone” areas.
The final goal is to restore a stable and
genetically diverse European meta-population,
with genetic exchange among
the populations in North Africa and
Eastern Europe (Greece, Turkey). To
achieve this goal, a monitoring network
such as the IBM is key component to
identify movements and connectivity
between the population, as well as potential
threats at an early stage and to
take measures at the European level.
Dropouts
Thanks to the cooperation of IBM, 10
dropouts within Europe could be documented
(Figure 2). Dropouts include all
incidents where individuals are removed
from the population (mortality, recapture).
This also applies to birds that
have been recaptured and could be released
again. A recapture is in any case
2