Monk Vulture (Aegypius monachus). Llanos de Cáceres, 1-11-2010 (Carlos Fernández)There have recently been some press reports of vultures in Extremadura (read here, read here). With the logical caveats, we pass on some of this information below.
- Since 1993 Extremadura has donated 71 Monk Vultures, 151 Griffon Vultures and 5 Egyptian Vultures to reintroduction projects in Catalunya, the Balearics, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Greece, among others. Most were juveniles from wildlife rescue centres.
- In the last ten years the Los Hornos Wildlife Rescue Centre (Centro de Recuperación Los Hornos) in Sierra de Fuentes has taken in and cared for 938 Griffon Vultures, 217 Monk Vultures and 32 Egyptian Vultures. Malnutrition cases have soared since 2005.
- In the whole region, according to government figures, there are 859 pairs of Monk Vulture and 166 pairs of Egyptian Vulture. Sierra de San Pedro and Monfragüe boast the biggest colonies of Monk Vulture, with 352 and 315 pairs respectively; the colony of Sierra de Gata is home to 54 pairs [N.B. in none of these cases is the year mentioned].
- Since 2003 the Regional Council of Extremadura (Junta de Extremadura) has verified 98 cases of vulture poisoning.
Check out related blog entries: Egyptian Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Rüppell's Vulture, Monk Vulture
