Vultures saved from extinction

A griffon vulture. Photo / Supplied

Once critically endangered, griffon vultures are now thriving on the Croatian island of Cres.

Their bald heads and beady eyes make them one of the animal kingdom's least-loved creatures, but griffon vultures have clawed their way back from the brink of extinction in a corner of Europe thanks to the dedication of a band of conservationists.

Europe's largest bird, the so-called Kings of the Sky have a wingspan of nearly 2.7m, which enables them to soar at altitudes of up to 6000m ranging as far as Turkey, Israel and the Sahara.

The island of Cres, off the coast of Croatia, is the only place in the world where they roost in sea cliffs.

But by the early 1990s there were just 24 pairs living on the island, which at 80km long is the largest in the Adriatic.

Dr Goran Susic, a Croatian biologist, set up a vulture rescue and rehabilitation centre in 1993 which has since proved to be one of Eastern Europe's most successful conservation projects.

With the help of hundreds of foreign volunteers, he has rescued 140 vultures and released 100 of them. The most recent batch of 11 took wing in October.

There are now 110 pairs of griffons nesting on Cres and surrounding islands - more than half the species' total number in Croatia.

"The British volunteers are one of the best nationalities, very enthusiastic and knowledgeable," Susic said. "Some people stay with us for two weeks, others for six months."

The rise in vulture numbers meant that this year the bird had its status improved from "critically endangered" to "endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of threatened species.

Griffons can live for more than 50 years but they are threatened by a combination of human disturbance, poisoning by farmers and a decline in food supply.

Because they make their nests on cliff faces, sometimes just 9m above the sea, they are vulnerable to disturbance by boat loads of tourists.

Young vultures that are frightened into making their first attempt at flight prematurely often end up drowning or crashing onto the beach.

The introduction by hunters of wild boar to Cres 20 years ago has been a disaster for griffon vultures.

The boar have exploded in numbers and taken to attacking and eating lambs. Local farmers have drastically reduced the size of their flocks - from 35,000 sheep 15 years ago to 12,000 - and leave out poisoned sheep carcasses in an attempt to cull the wild pigs. Vultures often die after eating the poisoned meat - in the worst case, in 2004, 20 griffons were poisoned by just one carcass.

Susic and his staff at the Caput Insulae sanctuary, near the village of Beli, are campaigning for farmers to no longer bait boars with poisoned sheep carcasses and to leave unpoisoned dead sheep out in the fields for the griffons to feed on.

The sanctuary receives no state money and has to get by on donations. Fundraising is not helped by the vulture's image in popular culture.

"When you say 'vulture', people think of traits like greed and ruthlessness, that they are ugly," said Susic. "It's much harder than finding sponsors for animals like dolphins or wolves. Banks say to us: 'There's no way we want to be associated with vultures.'

"But it is possible to change people's attitudes. Croatians are proud today of their griffons. They are one of the most magnificent birds on the planet."