Bearded vulture monitoring

Published, on 25 September 2022
Project status: ongoing
Nature conservation project
© Eva-Maria Cattoen

Bearded vulture monitoring

Establishment of cross-border bearded vulture monitoring

The Tyrolean Lech Nature Park is involved in the cross-border project on bearded vulture monitoring in the Bavaria-Tyrol region. A multi-layered network and the development of a permanent organisational model are to be established in order to record sightings of the bearded vulture more easily. The central monitoring structure will be installed on the Bavarian side, with the five nature parks in Tyrol serving as important cooperating network nodes.  

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is the largest bird species in the Alps and had been considered extinct since 1913. The Alpine Zoo in Innsbruck took on this problem and made great efforts to raise the bearded vulture in the 1980s - with complete success. In 1986, the bearded vulture was reintroduced into the wild in the Hohe Tauern National Park. The first outdoor breeding was then observed for the first time in 1997. In the meantime, around 300 bearded vultures live in the Alps. In order to make a permanent settlement of the bearded vulture in the Alps possible, however, about 500 animals are necessary, which is to be achieved through reintroduction initiatives. Experts believe it is quite possible that the bearded vulture will be permanently reintroduced into the Austrian-Bavarian Alpine region. As a result, the Landesbund für Vogelschutz Bayern e.V. (LBV) as lead partner and all five Tyrolean nature parks (Tiroler Lech, Karwendel, Kaunergrat, Ötztal and Zillertal) as well as the province of Tyrol / Dept. of Environmental Protection as project partners are joining forces to bundle these reintroduction efforts across borders.

The project objective is to improve biodiversity in the cooperation area in order to stop the loss of this highly endangered and therefore strictly protected bird species and to increase its spread. In the long term, a population of more than 500 birds should settle and breed in the cross-border Alpine region.

Key data on the Interreg project "Evs52 Establishment of a cross-border Bearded Vulture Monitoring Bavaria - Tyrol".

Short title: Bearded Vulture Monitoring Bavaria - Tyrol

Lead: Bavarian Society for the Protection of Birds (LBV)

Project partners: Tiroler Lech Nature Park (PP2); Karwendel Nature Park (PP3); Kaunergrat Nature Park (PP4); Ötztal Nature Park (PP5); Zillertal Nature Park (PP6); Province of Tyrol / Abt- Umweltschutz (associated partner)

Project period: 01.01.2021 until 30.06.2022

Total planned costs: 25.000 €

Approved funding: 18.750 €

This project is funded by:

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