From 1-4 October 2019, the European Conference on Vulture Protection was held in Portugal (Albufeiri). The event was attended by 240 participants from 20 countries. In four days, 74 lectures were held and 34 papers were presented as posters.

It is our great pleasure to point out that the Birds of Prey Protection Foundation presented the work of Sasa Marinkovic, PhD and Irena Hribsek with a lecture, thereby representing the successful work of protecting the Griffon Vulture in Serbia.

In addition, with his colleague Goran Susic, PhD, President of “Griffon – the Birds of Prey Conservation Association” from Croatia, with which the Foundation has a cooperation agreement, Sasa Marinkovic, PhD (the Institute for Biological Research “Sinisa Stankovic”) and Irena Hribsek (the Birds of Prey Protection Foundation) were co-authors of a poster presentation: “Colony-shifting and intra-colony nest movements of Eurasian Griffons (Gyps fulvus) in a period of 15 years”.

European Conference on Vulture Protection in Albufeira (Portugal)

Manifestacija International Vulture Awareness Day is part of the global commemoration of the Day “indicating the importance and need for protecting vultures ”. Organized by the Birds of Prey Protection Foundation and “Reserve Uvac” Ltd., this year was held in the Special Nature Reserve “Uvac”, with the presence of guests: PhD Momir Paunović, Assistant Director of the Institute for Biological Research “Sinisa Stanković”, an institute of national importance for Republic of Serbia, Mr. Siniša Mitrović, director of the Natural Resources Center “Natura”, manager of the “Trešnjica River Gorge” Special Nature Reserve, representative of the Palić Zoo, Tara National Park, Uroš Pantović from the Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF), as well as guests from abroad: PhD Lyubomir Profirova, Hristo Peshev from Bulgaria, PhD Goran Sušić, from the Institute of Ornithology of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the president of the association “Griffon – Association for the Protection of Birds of Prey”, and numerous members and guests of the Foundation.
 

Another significant anniversary was celebrated, a quarter of a century of existence and work of the Birds of Prey Protection Foundation and the successful implementation of the program of active protection of Griffon Vultures in Serbia. On this occasion, a new poster, two educational flyers and t-shirts were presented.

The most important part of the event was the release of the Griffon Vulture “Igor”, who, after the injury and two years of recovery at the Zoo Palić shelter, took off with a satellite transmitter, and who is included it in the monitoring program, along with the other three vultures: Zlatar, Marija and Dobrila.
Igor, before the flight to freedom

To set up a satellite transmitter on Igor:

The visitors had the opportunity to visit the Center for Vultures in Uvac, the Griffon Vultures colonies at Uvac, Zlatar and Radoinja lakes, a vulture restaurant – a feeding station, several beautiful viewpoints, as well as to attend the International Conference “Vultures above borders 2019”. and learn from experts about all aspects of protecting this group of animals, most of which are critically endangered. The conclusions of the “Vultures above borders 2019” conference will be announced shortly.

Vulture Day 2019:

Thanks to our colleague and friend Hristo Peshev from Bulgaria, we got great photos like this landing vulture

By Hristo Peshev, enjoy the album:

Poster (click for larger view):

You can find the Griffon Vulture Monitoring and Marking Report for 2019 HERE… »

In the late evening we got a call from Mr. Vukašin Milutinović from the village of Stublenica near Ub. In disbelief, we received the information that he had found a exhausted Griffon Vulturesoup! Our suspicion was allayed by photography. The bird did not look good so we responded quickly and sent a team to pick up the bird. In agreement with Dr. Joško, we transferred him to the BeoZoo Garden for further treatment and informed the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia.

The Griffon Vulture is this year’s cub, most likely from a colony in the Trešnjica Gorge. He was 5.7 kg. He was immediately given an infusion, after which he looked better. We hope that he will recover and that we will return him to his natural habitat on Tresnjica as soon as possible.

A big thank you to the guys who helped us to take care of the bird in the best possoble way. At their suggestion he is named – “Luka”.

THE BIRDS OF PREY PROTECTION FOUNDATION INVITES YOU ON THE INTERNATIONAL VULTURE AWARENESS DAY, 7.9.2019. IN SRN “Uvac”!

AGENDA about the “International Vultures Awareness Day 2019” is available HERE… »

Together with “Reserve Uvac” Ltd., the Birds of Prey Protection Foundation from Belgrade is organizing the celebration of the International day of “drawing attention” to the importance of protecting the Vultures, on September 7th at Uvac. This year is of particular importance, as we are celebrating 25 years of the implementation of active measures to protect the Griffon Vultures in Serbia, which is the most successful program for the protection of endangered species of national importance in Serbia. The international character of this event will be confirmed by the presence of experts and activists on the protection of vultures from the Balkans.

The main event of this year’s Vulture Day is the return to the natural habitat of the Griffon vulute named “Igor”, after a two-year recovery at the Zoo’s Palić shelter. Igor will be equipped with a satellite transmitter (from the Project: “Management of the Griffon Vulutres Population (Gyps fulvus) in Special Nature Reserves: “Trešnjica River Gorge” and “Uvac”, using the marking and monitoring program using satellite technology and video surveillance”) and in the monitoring program together with Griffon Vultures: Zlatar, Marija and Dobrila.

Trip plan:
– Departure from Belgrade, 7.9.2019. in the morning (the exact time and place will be announced later).
– The accommodation is at the “Panorama” Hotel on Zlatar.
– Boat tour of the Uvac Nature Reserve and two meals in nature.
– Return to Belgrade is planned on 8.9.2019. in the evening.

The price for the Members of the Foundation is RSD 4,000, and for the others RSD 6,000 (includes transportation from Belgrade, accommodation at the Panorama Hotel, breakfast, tour of the Reserve by boat, two meals in nature).
You can reserve your seat by paying into the Foundation’s account no. 325-9500900016839-20, marked “for a trip to Uvac” or at the Office of the Birds of Prey Foundation (Despota Stefana 142, Belgrade), Thursdays from 12 to 15 hours.

Also available contact… »

On the July 27, 2019, we visited the Kresna Gorge and the “Wild Flora and Fauna Foundation – FWFF” in Bulgaria. Thanks to our friend Hristo Peshev from “Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna – FWFF” we visited the Wildlife Center in Rakitna, near Blagoevgrad. Also we saw a Vulture Center, as well as a feeding station.

The curiosity was that we saw a Griffon Vulture with a blue wing tag “12”, which was tagged on the 3.7.2019. in the Kresna Gorge, and then on the 30.07.2019. recorded on Uvac by the Video Surveillance at the Rastoke Feeding Station.

7/3/2019, The Kresna Gorge(Hristo Peshev):

30.07.2019, Feeding station at Uvac (video surveillance):

We also noticed a Griffon Vulture marked “T20”, which is on the 31.07.2019. seen at the Rastoke Feeding station at Uvac by the video surveillance.

27.07.2019, The Kresna Gorge (Hristo Peshev):

31.07.2019, Uvac, Rastoke feeding station (video surveillance):

All this clearly shows that the Griffon Vultures do not know the borders and that if we want to work successfully on their protection, the cooperation of the whole region is necessary.
We would like to THANK to Hristo Peshev and we are convinced that we will continue our successful cooperation for the benefit of the Vultures of the whole Balkans! See you at Uvac, on the 7.9.2019. the International Day for the Protection of Vultures!

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Sorry, this entry is only available in српски.