Stories of egyptian vultures

Most Egyptian vultures released into the wild are equipped with GPS data loggers. These devices provide valuable insights into the outcome of releases, including tracking movement patterns, migratory routes, and frequently used areas. Furthermore, analysis of this data allows for the location of injured or deceased individuals, helping to identify primary causes of mortality, such as poaching and electrocution, and high-risk areas.

Interesting information on some of the individuals without any remote monitoring device was also obtained through direct observation and the reading of coloured rings by CERM Association friends.

Thanks to GPS, for example, CERM has discovered that young Egyptian vultures, which reach sub-Saharan Africa during their first autumn migration and usually stay there for three or four years before returning to Italy, start moving northwards as early as age two or three to spend part of the spring-summer months in northern Algeria.

In 2022, thanks to the exceptionally long battery life of her GPS tracker, ornithologists confirmed the first-ever nesting in the wild of an Egyptian vulture born in captivity at CERM: Sara. Released by the CERM Association in 2015 in the LIPU Gravina di Laterza Oasis, she nested in Basilicata for two consecutive years (2022-2023) with a wild partner. Three juveniles fledged from the couple’s nest. Tragically, the GPS also revealed that Sara died due to illegal killing during her 2023 autumn migration, in the sea between Sicily and Tunisia.

Despite the use of GPS tracking, evaluating the impact of releases on the Italian population of this species remains difficult. This depends on several factors, primarily the limited lifespan of GPS devices (around 4-5 years), combined with the fact that juveniles spend their first three to four years in sub-Saharan Africa, returning to Italy only when the devices have almost reached the end of their life cycle. Ultimately, observing Egyptian vultures and identifying coloured leg rings is exceptionally difficult. Below are some of the most significant “stories” about Egyptian vultures released into the wild by the CERM Association:

Alì – Alì hatched in 2005 from an egg confiscated at the port of Ancona by the State Forestry Corps, having been stolen by a trafficker in Turkey along with other Egyptian vulture and black stork eggs. Released in Puglia that same year without a GPS tracker, the bird was later photographed in Sicily on August 18, 2008 alongside Arturo (released in Puglia in 2007) and again in Pollino National Park on May 3, 2009.

Arianna – Born at CERM and released in Puglia in 2006, Arianna wintered mainly in Mali before returning to Italy in 2010. She was photographed in Basilicata on August 13 of that year.

Sara – Born at CERM, Sara was released in Puglia in 2015 and established Niger as her main wintering area. During her first autumn migration, she crossed the Mediterranean Sea from western Sicily to Libya, a 550 km non-stop flight, arriving in sub-Saharan Africa on September 21, 2015, after covering 3,980 km in 28 days. Starting at age two, she spent her summers in northern Algeria, and from 2019 onward, she returned to Italy every spring. During her 2019 autumn migration, she passed via Pantelleria Island alongside Tobia, an Egyptian vulture born in captivity at CERM and released in Calabria in 2015. During her 2020 autumn migration, she was observed near Pantelleria again, this time with a young wild Egyptian vulture. Later, in March 2022, she was spotted in Sicily with a wild partner, subsequently nesting in Basilicata in 2022 and 2023, with three young fledged. Sara is the first captive-bred Egyptian vulture confirmed to breed in the wild in Europe. Tragically, she was targeted by poachers during the 2023 autumn migration and fell into the sea between Sicily and Tunisia.

Tobia – Born at CERM, he was released in Calabria in 2015. After returning to Calabria in the summer of 2019, he undertook his autumn migration with Sara, also released in Puglia in 2015, stopping on the island of Pantelleria. His GPS signal was lost after he arrived in Tunisia.

Diego – He was born in captivity at CERM in 2018 and released in Basilicata in 2019 as part of the Egyptian Vulture LIFE Project. After wintering in Sicily during 2019-2020, he returned to the release site and surrounding areas of Puglia in spring 2020, repeating this pattern in 2020-2021. On April 26, 2021, Diego crossed the Adriatic Sea and reached the Balkans, where he wandered through 12 Eastern European countries. On September 10, 2021, he left Greece to migrate to Africa, following the route used by the Balkan Egyptian vultures, and reached Chad on September 16, 2021. In less than six months, from his return from Africa to his departure from Greece, Diego traveled 19,000 km, plus an additional 2,900 km between Greece and Chad. He returned to Italy the following spring (May 13, 2022) following the “classic” route of the Italian Egyptian vultures. On May 15, 2022, he was filmed by a camera trap at a feeding station in the Murgia Materana Park, set up as part of the Egyptian Vulture LIFE Project. Unfortunately, Diego died of electrocution on September 4, 2022, while perched on a medium-voltage power line in Pollino National Park, Calabria. Subsequent chemical analyses also detected poisoning from a cocktail of pesticides.

Tommy – Born at the CERM, Tommy was released in Basilicata in 2022 as part of the Egyptian Vulture LIFE Project. He disappeared over the sea between western Sicily and Tunisia during his first migration to Africa, certainly a victim of poaching. Here is Tommy’s story: photographed on Marettimo Island (Egadi, West Sicily) on September 21, 2022, he departed shortly after, heading south toward Tunisia. After 68 km, his GPS recorded a sudden turn north-west and a short stretch at a constant speed of 20-21 km/h. Then, GPS data was interrupted, and on September 26, new data showed a location near the island of Malta, about 337 km southeast of the last point located five days before. Alerted by the CERM Association, Malta Police and BirdLife Malta volunteers located the Egyptian vulture’s GPS tracker on a local beach, its Teflon harness strap cleanly cut. It is believed that Tommy was shot by a poacher while crossing from Tunisia to Sicily, brought on board a boat (explaining the sudden change in direction and the constant speed), and kept in a closed cabin – blocking the GPS signal – until its arrival in Malta. Before disembarking, the criminals cut the Teflon tapes, removed the GPS, and threw it into the sea. In light of what happened to Tommy, it is feared that other Egyptian vultures that disappeared under suspicious circumstances in the same area between Sicily and Tunisia over the years met the same fate. Among them is Victor, who was released alongside Tommy in 2022 and disappeared just south of the island of Pantelleria few days before him. It is well known that in Malta poaching and illegal taxidermy have long been an immense, seemingly incurable scourge for migratory birds (which are protected). In 2021, Isabel and Lucas, two Egyptian vultures released in Basilicata as part of the Egyptian Vulture LIFE Project, reached Malta during their first autumn migration. Isabel disappeared after being targeted in a ruthless hunting trip, while Lucas fortunately managed to escape a similar, fierce attempt on his life. These incidents highlight how thousands of migratory birds crossing the Mediterranean seem to be at the mercy of poachers, both on the main route between the Egadi archipelago and Cape Bon in Tunisia, and on the route from southern Sicily to Libya via Malta. This poses a severe threat to Europe’s bird population, as the route is used by large numbers of species migrating from Italy, as well as central, eastern, and northern Europe (e.g. European honey buzzard, black kite, western marsh harrier, Egyptian vulture, white stork, black stork, etc.).