A herd of 10 red deer have just been released in the Velebit Mountains rewilding landscape in Croatia. As part of an ongoing restocking programme, the release will help to restore the population across the landscape to a more healthy level, with benefits for wild nature and local communities.
A second group of cinereous vultures has just been released in the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria. Reinforcing the population already present in the area, the birds will strengthen the local circle of life, help to restore wild nature, and deliver benefits to communities in and around the rewilding landscape.
A herd of 16 Przewalski’s horses has just arrived in the Iberian Highlands rewilding landscape in Spain. Together with 10 horses transported to the area in May, they will soon be released to roam free across 5,700 hectares of public forest, delivering benefits for wild nature and local communities.
With Scottish wildcats now critically endangered, a grant from the European Wildlife Comeback Fund was used to support a pioneering release of captive-bred wildcats in the Cairngorms National Park this summer. This is hopefully the first step towards restoring a viable population of these charismatic and ecologically important animals in Scotland.
A grant from Rewilding Europe’s European Wildlife Comeback Fund has enabled the translocation of roe deer and Sorraia horses to Sintra-Cascais Natural Park in central Portugal. In conjunction with other herbivores, the animals will help to enhance biodiversity, mitigate wildfire risk, and support the growth of nature-based tourism.
Enhancing natural grazing, a key component of rewilding, can deliver multiple benefits. The arrival of a second herd of Tauros in the Iberian Highlands rewilding landscape in Spain is therefore good news for people and wildlife.
Seven cinereous vultures have just been released in the Iberian Highlands rewilding landscape in Spain, as part of an ongoing reintroduction programme. The restoration of this iconic and ecologically important bird as a breeding species will enhance the health of the landscape, support economic growth, and help to prevent the outbreak of disease.
Tauros have been released into the Greater Côa Valley for the first time. The herd will play a vital role in restoring grassland and woodland habitats in this rewilding landscape in Portugal.
The aim of the recently established European Wildlife Comeback Fund is to scale up wildlife reintroduction and population reinforcement across Europe. The fund’s first grant has just enabled the release of two juvenile Eurasian lynx in Western Pomerania, enhancing the genetic diversity of the area’s existing lynx population.
Populations of vultures and other raptors in the Balkans still face a range of threats, with illegal poisoning top of the list. The reintroduction of cinereous vultures in the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria throws a spotlight on these threats, but also offers hope for the future.