Serbian ornithologists have attached GPS trackers to the legs of two griffon vultures in a protected area in Bulgaria's Vratsa section of the Balkan Range, the Danas daily said, quoting the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia (BPSSS). This was part of an effort to protect vultures in Serbia and encourage them to return to the Balkan Range.
The ornithologists were unable to do the job in Serbia as the Environmental Protection Ministry in Belgrade had raised conditions which they could not fulfil. They had no problem catching and ringing vultures in Bulgaria, although the country obeys the much stricter rules of the European Union, said Tibor Rekecki, who works with BPSSS.
The two griffon vultures will be tracked under a project called Balkan Detox LIFE, which is aimed to prevent the poisoning of wild animals in the Balkans and keep vultures from getting poisoned by eating their flesh.
Slobodan Markovic of BPSSS explained: "By monitoring their movements, we can plan the next steps for the return of griffon vultures to the Balkan Range, where they used to breed, and for the comeback of cinereous vultures, which were last documented as breeding in Serbia about 60 years ago. Nowadays, you can spot a cinereous vulture in Serbia only while it is in flight."
The population of griffon vultures and cinereous vultures has increased thanks to the placement of feeders around the Balkans and the implementation of projects to bring endangered species back to their natural habitats in Bulgaria, Serbian ornithologists say.
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