The return of Europe's vultures

Reforging the circle of life

BOGDAN BOEV WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

The return of Europe's vultures

Reforging the circle of life

Europe’s lords of the skies take to the air once again

Two centuries ago, Egyptian, bearded, cinereous and griffon vultures were widespread breeding birds across central and southern Europe. Yet declining food availability, coupled with habitat loss, persecution and poisoning, drove all four species into severe decline, with populations disappearing from large parts of their former ranges. The scale and pattern of this decline varied between species: while cinereous vultures disappeared entirely from many countries, for example, small and endangered populations of griffon vultures survived in parts of southern Europe.

cinereous vulture

Cinereous vulture

bearded vulture

Bearded vulture

griffon vulture

Griffon vulture

Egyptian vulture

Egyptian vulture

At the lowest point in the 1960s, Spain had become the European stronghold for vultures, despite being home to just 2,000 pairs of griffon vultures and 200 pairs of cinereous vultures. The most recent estimates put these populations at around 36,500 and 2,550 pairs respectively. Thanks to species protection, reintroductions and natural recolonisation, vultures are now making a significant comeback across Europe, with Spain serving as a key source population for this recovery. In many regions, the spectacular sight of vultures soaring through the sky has once again become increasingly common.

In recent years, a fifth vulture species has begun to establish a presence in Europe. Rüppell’s vultures, which are native to sub-Saharan Africa, are increasingly being recorded in southern Portugal and Spain. In 2023, a male Rüppell’s vulture paired with a female griffon vulture in southern Spain and successfully raised a chick.

The essential role of vultures

Vultures perform an essential role in nature. As the only land-based vertebrates that can thrive solely on scavenging, vultures are crucial in maintaining nature’s balance, rapidly cleaning up and recycling the bodies of dead animals. Because they can quickly devour large amounts of flesh and their stomach acids neutralise pathogens, they may help limit the spread of bacteria and diseases such as anthrax and rabies.

Over the last decade, Rewilding Europe and its partners have worked hard to restore the circle of life, an essential element of wild nature. This has boosted populations of wild and semi-wild herbivores and supported the gradual recovery of European vulture populations.

Read more about the ‘Circle of Life’

BOGDAN BOEV WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

The importance of carrion

As populations of wild herbivores have declined across Europe, so has the availability of the carcasses on which vultures and other scavengers depend. As a result, vultures have become increasingly reliant on livestock carcasses, but stricter veterinary regulations have made this food source less readily available. Since the 1970s, supplementary feeding stations — sometimes known as “vulture restaurants” — have been established across southern Europe, providing a reliable source of carrion and playing an important role in the recovery and reintroduction of vultures.

Illustration by Jeroen Helmer/ Ark Rewilding Netherlands
illustration by Jeroen Helmer/ Ark Rewilding Netherlands
Jeroen Helmer
While these stations remain a valuable conservation tool, allowing carcasses to remain where domesticated herbivores such as cows die creates a more natural and widely distributed food source that benefits a broader community of scavengers. European regulations now allow livestock carcasses to be left in nature under certain circumstances, but the process can still be bureaucratic and is permitted in only a limited number of countries. A breakthrough was made in Portugal’s Greater Côa Valley in 2025, where legalised carcass deposition now promises a brighter future for the vulture populations here.

Ultimately, healthier European ecosystems should provide vultures and other scavengers with more naturally occurring carrion. Restoring populations of wild herbivores, allowing carcasses to remain in nature wherever possible, and improving access to livestock carcasses can all help rebuild this vital part of the food web, reducing dependence on supplementary feeding over time.

“As scavengers, vultures and other keystone bird species play a critical ecological role, enhancing the health, resilience, and functionality of ecosystems, while delivering wide-ranging benefits to people and nature.”

Sara Aliácar
Rewilding Landscape Manager, Rewilding Europe

Vultures in Rewilding Europe’s rewilding landscapes

Europe is home to four native vulture species — griffon, cinereous, Egyptian and bearded — and Rewilding Europe and its partners are working to support their recovery across a growing number of rewilding landscapes. Griffon vultures currently breed in the Greater Côa Valley, Central Apennines, Iberian Highlands and Rhodope Mountains, while Egyptian vultures breed in the Greater Côa Valley, Iberian Highlands and Rhodope Mountains. Cinereous vultures breed in the Greater Côa Valley and, following successful reintroduction programmes, are now breeding again in both the Rhodope Mountains and Iberian Highlands.

The return of breeding cinereous vultures to the Rhodope Mountains and Iberian Highlands in 2026 represents a major milestone, with chicks hatching in both landscapes following successful reintroduction programmes (see Main Achievements section for more details).

Efforts to strengthen and restore vulture populations are also advancing elsewhere. In the Central Apennines, 25 griffon vultures from Spain arrived in March 2026 as the first birds in a three-year reinforcement programme that aims to release around 60 individuals. A feasibility study has also assessed the potential for bringing cinereous and bearded vultures back to the landscape, where both have been absent as breeding species for centuries.

In the Southern Carpathians, preparations are advancing to bring vultures back  after an absence of more than half a century. With support from the EU LIFE Programme, Rewilding Romania and its partners are working towards the reintroduction of griffon vultures and cinereous vultures, helping to restore the local scavenger community and the natural processes it supports.

The Iberian Highlands could soon see another important step forward, with the planned reintroduction of bearded vultures planned in 2027. Together with the return of cinereous vultures, this will help restore a complete community of scavengers to the landscape. In the Velebit Mountains, meanwhile, griffon vultures regularly visit from nearby breeding colonies, and efforts are underway to encourage their more permanent return.

Across these landscapes, vulture comeback is about more than restoring individual species. By increasing the availability of natural carrion, reducing threats, and restoring missing species, Rewilding Europe and its partners are rebuilding scavenger communities and helping the circle of life function more naturally.

 

Sergio Cueto

Scaling up vulture comeback

Grants from Rewilding Europe’s European Wildlife Comeback Fund are supporting vulture reintroductions by members of the European Rewilding Network across Europe. In Spain, we have supported Spanish NGO GREFA with the release of cinereous vultures in the Sierra de la Demanda and Els Ports, as well as Egyptian vultures in Cazorla Natural Park. In Italy, grants have supported the release of griffon and Egyptian vultures in the Madonie area of northern Sicily, while in France they have supported the release of bearded vultures in the Baronnies, in the Dauphiné Alps.

Our work with GREFA extends beyond these individual grants. Through a collaboration agreement with the Spanish conservation organisation, we are working together to restore vulture populations across several Rewilding Europe landscapes. This includes the reintroduction of cinereous vultures in the Rhodope Mountains, the planned return of griffon and cinereous vultures to the Southern Carpathians, and the reinforcement of the griffon vulture population in the Central Apennines. By connecting expertise and restoration efforts across landscapes, this collaboration is helping to accelerate vulture comeback at a European scale.

How are we supporting vultures?

Rewilding Europe is working in various ways — and with a range of partner organisations — to support the recovery of vulture populations in our landscapes, as a flagship species of healthy food webs and resilient, functioning ecosystems.

Improving the prey base

for predators in our landscapes, thereby increasing the availability of naturally occurring carrion for vultures and other scavengers.

Supporting vulture watching

and photography in dedicated hides, which enables local enterprises to generate income and create jobs. This benefits local communities and builds further support for rewilding.

Supporting anti-poisoning units

with specially trained dogs, helping to detect poisoned animals and deter the illegal use of poison across our rewilding landscapes.

Researching the movements

of cinereous, griffon and other vultures using GPS transmitters. By revealing where birds travel, feed and encounter threats, this information can help strengthen conservation measures.

A cinereous vulture on its nest in the Rhodope Mountains

Restoring breeding populations

of vultures through reintroductions and other targeted measures, such as the construction of artificial nests. These efforts are helping vultures return to landscapes where they have been absent as breeding species for decades.

Engaging and educating

local communities, including schoolchildren, through field camps, events and other activities focused on vultures and their ecological importance.

Support vulture comeback

Across Europe, vultures are making a remarkable comeback — but their recovery is far from complete. Your support can help us restore missing populations, reduce threats such as poisoning, rebuild natural food webs, and return these magnificent birds to landscapes where they belong.

Donate

Staffan Widstrand; Wild Wonders of Europe
Staffan Widstrand / Rewilding Europe

Restoring a unique food web

The Rhodope Mountains rewilding team have been supporting the comeback of griffon vultures in the Bulgarian Rhodopes since 2016, mainly by improving the availability of natural prey, and by working to reduce mortality caused by factors such as poaching, poisoning, and collisions with power lines. By 1986, these threats had seen the Bulgarian population decline to just three breeding pairs – all in the Rhodopes.

The beneficial impact of these efforts is reflected in the ongoing growth of the local griffon vulture population. In early 2024, a team from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds identified 138 occupied nests along the Arda River, in the heart of the Rhodope Mountains rewilding landscape. Of these, 100 pairs were engaged in breeding, while the rest were still building their nests and defending them from rivals.

The griffon vultures act as a poster child for the restoration of a unique food web in this region. In collaboration with local hunting associations, more than 600 fallow deer and 50 red deer have now been reintroduced and restocked in the Bulgarian Rhodopes since 2015, creating several increasing sub-populations of the two species. This is increasing the availability of carrion for vultures to feed on and thereby strengthening the so-called “Circle of Life”. Today, populations of fallow and red deer in the Rhodope Mountains now total 3500 and 350 respectively.

Reducing poisoning

Illegal poisoning remains one of the most serious threats to vultures and other scavengers across Europe. Since 2016, anti-poison dog units have patrolled the Rhodope Mountains rewilding landscape in Bulgaria, helping to detect and remove poisoned baits and carcasses before they can cause further wildlife deaths. This also helps keep livestock, pets and potentially people safe.

Across the border, anti-poison dog units operated by conservation partners have also played an important role in protecting vultures in the Greek Rhodopes, including the country’s remaining Egyptian vultures. More recently, anti-poison dog patrols have become operational in the Central Apennines rewilding landscape in Italy, extending this proven approach to another important area for vulture comeback.

 

Fantastic flights

Helena, an immature cinereous vulture, was tagged with a GPS collar in Dadia National Park in eastern Greece on October 2016. On 23 April 2017, the three-year-old bird decided to explore the region. First, she headed west, soaring across the Rhodope Mountains, then curved north to pass west of Bulgarian capital Sofia two days later. She then flew northwest, entering Serbia and crossing the Danube River on 26 April. From there she followed the Carpathian Mountains and crossed the Țarcu Mountains (part of the Southern Carpathians) the next day.

Helena’s detailed flight path reveals that she flew directly over Armeniș, Rewilding Europe’s main reintroduction site for European bison. She moved on in an easterly direction, crossing the Fagaras Mountains and into the Transylvanian Alps, clearly following the high mountain chains. She then started her return flight directly southwest, passing just west of Hungarian capital Budapest on 1 May. She then flew southward, recrossing the Danube River to arrive in the Central Balkans National Park, just east of Sofia. From there she flew southeast to arrive back in Dadia National Park on the 4 May. An incredible journey!

A mechanism for recolonisation

Helena’s journey is a really good example of how some vultures can cover huge distances as they explore the European continent and beyond. It echoes similar northward trips that groups of griffon vultures make from Spain and southern France into the Netherlands and Germany during favourable weather conditions, with the birds returning to their breeding grounds a few weeks later.

These vulture wanderings indicate that the Southern Carpathians in Romania could be recolonised by cinereous vultures in the future, assuming more birds will discover the area, suitable nesting areas can be found, and that birds are well protected.

Juan Carlos Muñoz Robredo / Rewilding Europe

Cinereous vulture reintroduction

Overseen by the Rewilding Rhodopes team and local partners, a reintroduction programme for cinereous vultures is currently underway in the Rhodope Mountains rewilding landscape in Bulgaria. Establishing a new breeding colony of cinereous vultures in Bulgaria will bolster the Balkan population of the bird.

It is important to ensure that as many of the cinereous vultures released through the reintroduction programme as possible settle in the Rhodope Mountains. Human contact is kept to a minimum, the birds are sustained on food they are likely to find locally after their release, and ten nesting platforms have been constructed on trees within sight of the pre-release acclimatisation aviary. The rewilding team operate a number of artificial feeding stations, where the carcasses of livestock supplied by local farmers are regularly deposited. These are checked to ensure they are free from all veterinary drugs that could poison vultures that feed on them.

All the released vultures will be tagged and fitted with GPS transmitters, enabling the rewilding team to keep track of their health and movement in real time, and to learn more about their life in the local landscape and beyond. Almost all the birds from the second release have stayed close to the release site, although some have made periodic journeys to other mountainous regions in Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece.

Our main achievements

Cinereous vultures breed again after decades of absence

In 2026, cinereous vultures successfully bred in both the Rhodope Mountains and Iberian Highlands rewilding landscapes, marking major milestones in the comeback of this iconic scavenger. In Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains, chicks hatched for the first time in more than 30 years, following a reintroduction programme that began with the release of the first birds in 2022. This breeding success represents an important step towards establishing a permanent cinereous vulture colony in the Bulgarian Rhodopes and strengthening the wider population across the Balkans.

In Spain’s Iberian Highlands, cinereous vulture chicks also hatched in 2026 — the first recorded in the landscape for around a century. The chicks were born to birds that settled in Alto Tajo Natural Park following their release through an ongoing reintroduction programme. Together, these breeding successes show how sustained rewilding efforts — combining reintroductions with measures to provide suitable nesting habitat, increase food availability and reduce threats — are helping cinereous vultures return as a breeding species to landscapes where they have long been absent.

Griffon vultures rebound in the Rhodope Mountains

The griffon vulture population in the Rhodope Mountains has grown spectacularly over the last decade. From 67 breeding pairs in 2013, just before Rewilding Europe and the Rewilding Rhodopes Foundation began working with the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) and other partners, the population had more than doubled by 2024. This recovery reflects sustained efforts to improve food availability, reduce poisoning and other threats, and create a safer landscape for vultures.

Amplifying vulture comeback

Successful reintroduction and reinforcement programmes are restoring vultures to landscapes where they had disappeared and are unlikely to return naturally, while strengthening existing populations elsewhere. Over the last five years, Rewilding Europe and its partners have reintroduced cinereous vultures in the Iberian Highlands and Rhodope Mountains and stepped up efforts to reinforce the griffon vulture population in the Central Apennines. These long-term programmes will continue towards 2030, while preparations are also advancing to bring vultures back to other rewilding landscapes.

A new cinereous vulture colony in the Greater Côa Valley

In 2021, monitoring by the Rewilding Portugal team led to the exciting discovery of a breeding colony of cinereous vultures in the Malcata Mountains — part of the Greater Côa Valley rewilding landscape. The colony has since grown to 18 breeding pairs, making it the third largest in Portugal and highlighting the importance of the landscape for the continuing recovery of the species.

Preparing for the return of vultures in the Southern Carpathians

Rewilding Romania and its partners are working to reintroduce griffon and cinereous vultures to the Southern Carpathians, restoring these missing scavengers to the landscape. An important step forward has been the inclusion of both species in Romania’s national biodiversity legislation, helping to create the regulatory framework needed for their reintroduction.

Returning livestock carcasses to the food web

In 2025, the first livestock farmer in Portugal’s Greater Côa Valley received authorisation to leave carcasses in the landscape for scavengers, following five years of supportive work by Rewilding Portugal. Allowing livestock carcasses to remain in nature provides vultures with a more dispersed and natural source of food than conventional feeding stations, while reducing carcass disposal costs for farmers. The breakthrough provides a model that could now be scaled up across the Greater Côa Valley and beyond.

Restoring natural food webs

The comeback of vultures depends on restoring the wider food webs of which they are part. Rewilding Europe and its partners have reintroduced large herbivores across a growing number of landscapes, including red and fallow deer, European bison, wild and semi-wild horses, Tauros, kulan and water buffalo. As these populations grow and become increasingly integrated into their ecosystems, they provide prey for predators and naturally occurring carcasses for vultures and other scavengers.

This process is particularly advanced in the Rhodope Mountains, where reintroductions have helped restore viable populations of free-roaming horses, red deer and fallow deer. Wolves prey on these herbivores, while their remains provide food for a diverse scavenger community that includes griffon, cinereous and Egyptian vultures. A similar story is unfolding in the Southern Carpathians, where the growing European bison population is seeing carcasses scavenged by bears, wolves and other wildlife species.

Related stories

Cinereous vulture comeback continues as first chicks hatch in Iberian Highlands

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First cinereous vulture chicks hatch in the Bulgarian Rhodopes in over 30 years

July 2, 2026

Cinereous vultures take to the sky in Spain and Bulgaria

October 29, 2025

New partnership to advance vulture comeback across Europe

May 12, 2025

Legalised carcass deposition promises brighter future for Greater Côa Valley vultures

March 21, 2025

Ten-year rewilding anniversary sees vulture boost in the Rhodopes

December 6, 2024
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